


In the Dark

by Gravity_Piglet



Series: Answers That Escape Us [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I will try to update, as much as I can, but it probably, won't happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-05-23 15:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 26
Words: 33,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6120424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gravity_Piglet/pseuds/Gravity_Piglet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Torchwick starts working at Beacon to avoid the death sentence he didn't anticipate that it would be this fun, and that he would have Red constantly looking over his shoulder. Ruby breaks Torchwick out of prison on professor Ozpin's  orders but she hates being kept out of the loop with means to why. That is the reason she has to look after him to make sure he doesn't do anything illegal, she didn't anticipate growing to like him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Breakout

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kaitlyn Wilson](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Kaitlyn+Wilson).



> This is my first fanfics ever but when I joined this fandom I realized there so not enough rosewick fanfics so here it is.
> 
> RWBY does not belong to me! all it's characters and story points belong to rooster teeth. I fit belonged to me the earth would be blown up by now... just kidding...probably…
> 
> This is Gravity_PIglet, please enjoy the story

Chapter 1_ Break Out

Torchwick glared at the bars of the cell. Reflecting on the events of the past few months. It was Cinder's fault he was incarcerated. He never should have accepted the job from her. Maybe if she had told him the details of her plan, maybe then he wouldn't be rotting in this prison cell with such an irritatingly lumpy pallet. He'd slept on worse but it still hurt his pride. Torchwick was blaming Cinder for this mess and he knew she didn't care enough about him to break him out, after all, to her he was just a stupid lackey. A pawn to be controlled and not listened to. There was a possibility Neo might come to break him out. That was just an assumption though, Neo lived by the principle that most thieves stand by, 'If you get yourself caught, liberate yourself.' He sighed and looked down, out of the corner of his eye he witnessed a stroke of red. Stepping forward he reached down and was surprised to find a single rose petal. As he was straightening he heard the soft tap of the guard's shoes followed by the clunk of someone else's. "You have a visitor Torchwick, play nice."

The guard narrowed her eyes and unlocked the cell. Torchwick grinned and winked at the woman but she just moved out of the way to reveal his 'visitor'. "Roman Torchwick," the man in front of him growled. 

"Oh good you know my name," Torchwick stated, "Let me see if I know yours. You must be General Ironwood, the leader of this fine establishment."

He gestured to the filthy concave and the general's eyes didn't even glance to the peeling walls, the dried vomit on the floor or the flea infested mattress. "What were you doing with all that dust?" the general implored, flinching as Torchwick stepped closer. 

"I wouldn't know," he grinned again, "after all I'm just the lackey." 

Ironwood turned around and stepped out of the cell gesturing to the guard to close the door, "Well," he paused, "if that's the case, any last requests... oh wait, you're Roman Torchwick, you don't get last requests."

The general strode toward the stairs, the guard following closely after. Ironwood's voice rang out in Torchwick's ears, "See ya tomorrow Roman. In front of the firing squad."

Torchwick collapsed on the grimy floor, what was he going to do? He had always found his way out of situations like this, but this time, he thought he might not be so lucky. He sighed for the second time, what if this really was the end for him? Was everything he'd done up to this point... pointless?

Above him he heard someone clear their throat. He looked up, amazed he hadn't heard her footsteps. "Red?" he exclaimed when he saw her face, "how kind of you to visit a man destined for the firing squad, or did you come just to taunt me, I wouldn't blame you, after all it seems a lot of people want me dead these days." 

Ruby's expression didn't change as she took out Crescent Rose and raised it above her head. "Oh, so you are going to kill me, never thought you'd have the nerve," Torchwick sighed once more as he resigned himself to death. 

Ruby's scythe slammed down into the lock of the cell and it broke off. "Not saying you don't deserve to rot here like all criminals do but if you don't want to stay we better get going," Ruby turned to Torchwick and her weapon changed shape as she pressed the sniper rifle against his back.

"Soooo, you're helping me escape. Why?" 

Ruby didn't answer just grabbed his now filthy white coat and used her semblance. It was the fastest Torchwick had ever gone in his life and before he knew it they had cleared the prison and stood in downtown Vale. "Look, I can't use my semblance anymore while carrying you se we'll just have to walk back. Try anything funny and I won't hesitate to return you to Ironwood myself, "Ruby glared at the man standing in front of her. 

"Oh, so you would sentence me to death just like him, Red?"

Ruby gasped and stepped back, letting her tough façade fall for a few seconds. "No! I would never sentence anyone to die!" 

She looked a little hurt that he would in fact say such a thing. "Never mind" Torchwick mumbled, he actually felt bad about hurting her feelings, a rare occurrence for the king of thieves.

-Time skip-

Ruby shoved Torchwick into Headmaster Ozpin's office and followed after him, the operation end of her gun pressed against his lower back. "Ruby," Ozpin started, "you can put that away, Glynda can impede him easily."

Glynda Goodwhich stepped out of the shadows and Ruby swung her weapon back into place. "How did the break out go?" Ozpin inquired of Ruby, still ignoring Torchwick, who had gone into stunned silence as soon he figured out Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy, had orchestrated this illegal activity. 

"Without a hitch," Ruby replied, "what are you going to do with him?" she shuffled from foot to foot.

"That is for me to know today and you to know later. Go to bed Ruby. You have classes tomorrow and your team is probably wondering where you are." 

He pointed to the door, Ruby turned then stopped, "but Professor Ozpin..." she started but the headmaster interrupted her, "Ruby, go to bed, I am the headmaster I will deal with this." 

"Yes Sir," she turned and left the room, returning to her team.


	2. Pajamas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is Gravity_Piglet checking in and I hope you are enjoying the story so far, not many people seem to like Rosewick but as of right now it is my fav ship. I haven't seen the last 6 episodes of RWBY yet though so don't judge me if I get it wrong.

Chapter 2_Pajamas

Ruby POV

Ugh... Professor Ozpin! I just wanted to know what they were going to do with Torchwick. I wasn't even asking for anything difficult. I broke the guy out of jail, shouldn't I at least get to know what happens to him. I strolled down the halls finally reaching my room and opening the door. "Where were you?!?!" Yang screeched. 

I laughed, this really is where I'm meant to be. Although I regretful for lying to my friends and sister.

"Cleaning Crescent Rose and repairing her," I answered, reaching into my dresser to change into my PJs.

"Well too bad! You missed an epic duel between me and Nora!" I pulled out my favorite pajamas and was going to reply when Weiss articulated, "It’s Nora and I, not me and Nora, learn some grammar. And it was not epic. You guys destroyed Professor Ooblek's classroom! So now we have to read three more chapters in the book then the rest of the class!"

Yang just laughed as I started changing into my pajamas and Blake joined the discussion, "That's not so bad, we get extra study time and a head start on the next material."

Weiss turned to face Blake, "Whatever. My time is precious you know," she proclaimed my mind immediately retorting, 'busy daydreaming about Neptune'.

Yang read my mind, saying my exact thoughts out loud. I laughed along with her and Blake as a light blush dusted over Weiss's face and she looked down yelling, "SHUT UP!"

She jumped into her bed and buried her face in the pillow. I yawned and turned to the other girls, "Time to sleep Team RWBY."

I hopped up into my bed and called out to my team, "Goodnight all." 

Creaks of the other girls getting into their beds echoed in my ears before the room finally went silent.

I waited until I heard the quiet snores of Weiss and the thunderous roars of Yang till I climbed out of bed. I had to know what they were going to do with Torchwick and I knew that Professor Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch wouldn't tell me. So I crept out the window, going to ask perhaps the most untrustworthy person I know.

Beacon at night is just as creepy as you could imagine it and if I was caught out after curfew I'd be in big trouble. I had to know though. Climbing up the wall, I peeked into window after window until I found what I was looking for and ambled into the room.

Normal POV

Ruby tumbled into Torchwick's room and she turned her head frantically, attempting to find the criminal. After a few seconds of panicked searching she noticed steam escaping the bathroom and she heard the water shut off. Ruby dove under the man's bed and covered her eyes as Torchwick strolled out of the bathroom wearing only pajama pants. He looked down and chuckled, "What are you doing here Red?" 

Ruby didn't move, wondering how he knew she was beneath the bed so easily. Slowly she peeked through her fingers and saw that Roman was crouching in front of her, grinning. She squeaked and Torchwick's grin became wider, he couldn't help it, the girl was so innocent. "You better come out Red, I'm pretty sure it's against the rules for you to be here and I might just call the guard outside to come get you."

Ruby growled and crawled out from under his bed. She stood up and glared at the shirtless man, then blushed when she realized his state of attire. "So, Red," Torchwick raised his eyebrows, "What made you come to criminal's room in the middle of the night wearing only pajamas?"

Ruby looked down and realized she was indeed wearing her pajamas, her blush darkened and she clenched her teeth. "Oh, and I notice you don't have that overgrown garden tool with you? Did you forget it Red? Or maybe you left it on purpose?"

He raised his eyebrows at her suggestively and smirked. "No." Ruby replied curtly, "I wanted to know what Professor Ozpin talked to you about. So put a shirt on and talk."

Torchwick laughed and took a step back as Ruby glared fiercely at him. "Ah, but Red, if Ozpin wouldn't tell you, why should I?"

Ruby started shaking uncontrollably, "You don't understand do you!"

She stepped closer to the criminal, and if looks could kill, he'd be dead 3 times over. "You have no idea what it's like to be kept in the dark? To be told to do something but never have a reason? It never even occurred to you that maybe I am good enough to know WHY I had to break you out of jail."

Torchwick reached forward and covered Ruby's mouth with his hand, then stepped so close to her their bodies were touching. He whispered, "I do understand, and if you don't shut up they'll walk in on us like this. Think of the assumptions they'll make."

Tears began spilling from Ruby's eyes and she leaned forward hugging Torchwick, who, by the way, was still shirtless. He was unsure what to do, this girl, who seemed to hate him, was now hugging him. 'What the Cinder Hell,' he thought but still wrapped his arms around her. Suddenly Ruby twisted his arm behind his back, pressing it upward toward his head. Torchwick hissed in pain. "Tell me what Ozpin said," the girl ordered through clenched teeth.

"Fine, Red. Fine! Just let me go!" Ruby released the man's arm from her grip.

Torchwick huffed and mumbled something about her being more evil than he was, then began speaking, "Look, Red, I don't want you to freak out, but Ozpin gave me a deal. If I don't do anything illegal I don't have to go to jail. However there is one drawback," he paused, "I have to work as a teacher at this school. I will be teaching the class about criminal psychology starting tomorrow."

Ruby stumbled backward, then stood for a second staring into space. Finally, she cleared her throat and stepped onto the window sill, she didn't even glance back at Torchwick. 

Ruby jumped out and the only thing left that even hinted she had been there was the scattering of rose petals drifting to the floor of the room.


	3. Masque

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the next chapter should be coming out soon but I'm not quite sure when, typing is a pain and I am lazy Rosewick trash. Next chapter I have written but will be uploading it as soon as possible.

Chapter 3 : Masque

"Ruby! Get up! if you don't hurry we're not going to get to eat breakfast before the assembly," Weiss urged as she pulled on her combat skirt. 

"Five more minutes," Ruby mumbled as she buried herself deeper down into her blankets. 

"Come on Ruby. Yang and Blake left ages ago and the teachers said yesterday there was going to be an important announcement after breakfast." 

Ruby grumbled as Weiss pulled the blankets off her half asleep form. "Yeah, Yeah, important announcement," she murmured, then she sat up straight in her bed, realizing what that meant.

Her eyes wide she stared at Weiss, "We have to hurry!" 

Within a minute Ruby was fully dressed and speeding toward the cafeteria. "Do you know something I don't?" Weiss accused, "because it seems an awful lot like you do." 

Ruby didn't answer her partner just continued racing through the halls until they reached the lunchroom. As Weiss walked in behind the hurrying girl she saw Yang wave them over to their usual table. "Hey, you almost missed the assembly, I know that Weiss isn't an early riser but Ruby, this isn't like you." 

Just after Yang had finished speaking Miss Goodwitch's voice echoed throughout the room, resounding from the loud speakers. She directed the students to file into the assembly hall by table, team RWBY was one of the first into the room. Ozpin stood on the platform behind Glynda as she announced the order of the tables coming into the room. However seated behind them was a masked hooded man, slouching on a chair comfortably. Ruby knew it was Torchwick, the way he commanded the attention of everyone in the auditorium without his even trying, the pure egotism radiating of him. (These opinions belong only to Ruby and no one else, the others just wondered who he was.) Once the auditorium was full Professor Ozpin stepped up to the microphone and began his speech, "I'm sure you are wondering why we are having this assembly and who the person behind me is. We are getting a new teacher here at Beacon to replace Professor Windrop. Professor Kasai will be teaching criminal psychology, which is required for all first years and optional for other students. Professor, would you like to say something to your new pupils." 

Ozpin gestured to Torchwick but the man just called out, "We'll get acquainted in class." 

The headmaster stepped back up to the microphone, "Thank you," he chided sarcastically, "Now, children, its time you get to class. Third period, freshman please go to room W12 for criminal psychology. That is all." 

The students began shuffling out of the room and team JNPR found their way to team RWBY. "Can you believe we get a new teacher and class?" Pyrrha asked the other girls. 

"Yeah, it’s really cool, I wonder what the class will be like," Yang replied to the warrioress. 

"He should let us eat in class, then he would be my favorite teacher," Nora shouted as she jumped on Ren's back. 

The members of team JNPR and team RWBY continued discussing the new teacher. Until Blake asked her leader, "Hey Ruby, why have you been so quiet?" 

Ruby looked panicked for a moment then answered to the rest of them, "I just regretting waking up late, because I haven't eaten at all." 

"Oh, my poor little sister, have a cookie," Yang pulled a cookie out of her pocket and the other girls did as well. 

After Ruby had shoved the cookies in her mouth she wondered, "Where’d you get the cookies." 

Weiss answered her saying, "We always keep cookies on us in case we need to bribe you." 

"Oh... okay?"

-

They entered first period and it passed without incident as did second period. In fact Ruby was starting to feel better too. Finally third period arrived and all the first years shuffled into Professor Kasai's classroom. Since the Professor was not in the room when they got there they continued laughing and talking, enjoying the brief break from work.

-

Torchwick peeked into the classroom observing the students chatting. His gaze settled on Ruby, who had just started laughing at some joke one of her friends told. Roman was startled, he'd never seen Red smile like that, at least not in front of him. He grinned and chuckled a little as he determined she would be his next 'side project'.

-

Professor Kasai strode into the classroom and some of the teenagers stopped talking but most were oblivious to his presence and continued their conversations. One such person was Jaune Ark, who was speaking quite lividly to Pyrrha about how Weiss had once again denied his affection. The teacher stepped in front of the boy’s desk, his mask glinting from the artificial light. "Mr. Ark," he began, interrupting the boy. Jaune finally noticed the teacher standing in front of him. 

"I am willing to cut you a little slack, after all today is your first day in my class. However, I want to remind the whole class that when I enter the room, your conversations stop." 

The masked professor leaned over and held his face close to Jaune's, "Do you understand Mr. Ark?"

Jaune gulped and nodded then said in a trembling voice, "Yes, sir." 

The man pulled back and chuckled and returned to the front of the class. "As you all know, my name is Professor Kasai and I will be teaching this class, before we get started on today's lecture are there any questions you would like me to answer about myself." 

A couple students raised their hands and the professor chuckled again, "Ms. Belladonna, what would you like to know?" 

The girl put her hand down and began to speak. "Sir? If it is not to forward of me, why are you wearing a mask?" 

Kasai strode to Blake's desk and stared at her, "To my understanding, Ms. Belladonna, you have quite a lot of experience with masks. I assure you that I am not one of the faunas up-risers," he turned back to the class, "I wear a mask because my identity is a secret, because brats like you don't have a high enough clearance level to know yet. Any other questions?" 

Various other students offered questions and the professor answered their queries respectively.

-

Ruby laid her head on the desk, sick of hearing the man lie. She drifted in and out of sleep, still exhausted because of her lack of rest. She dreamed of cookies, and teachers, and Grimm. Ruby was jarred out of her sleep by a cold and steely voice. "Ms. Rose, I suppose you think my class is not important enough to stay awake in." 

Ruby blinked her eyes blearily at the concealed criminal in front of her, "Hmm? It seems to me your class doesn't matter, it's not like I need to know how criminals think." 

The whole class inhaled and Yang began barking out a loud laugh, while Ruby's friends looked at her funny. "Ms. Rose, please come see me after class, although... you do make a good point. Why should you learn about how a criminal thinks?" the fake professor paused for effect, letting the class think for a second. 

"Criminals are everywhere, they could be your neighbor, your best friend, your classmate, your family, or even, your criminal psychology teacher. How will you, as hunter and huntresses, know how to stop them or even who they are if you don't know how they think? I'll tell you right now, before I give you tonight's assignment, the main reason for most criminal's actions. Does anyone have a guess? Ms. Nikos?" 

Pyrrha looked up from her notes, "umm, they're born that way?" 

"Wrong!" the sensei replied, "any other guesses?" 

The whole class shook their heads, unsure of the answer he was looking for. "Thought so. It's greed, brats, criminals are greedy and selfish. In fact they don't give a damn about anyone besides themselves. So tonight, I want you to write a one page essay about why you think this class is important." 

The bell rang just as he finished speaking. Most of the students scrambled out of the classroom and Ruby's friends waved goodbye to her as they went to lunch. Professor Kasai closed the door after them and took off his mask.


	4. The Long Con

Ruby clenched her teeth as she saw Torchwick's face, she growled as he strode toward her. "Did you know Red, that since I'm a teacher I got to see all of your profiles, nothing I didn't already know of course, I am a criminal. However at this moment I am also a teacher, so Red, even though you hate me try to control yourself while you’re in my class."  
Ruby finally stood from her seat, knocking over the chair as she did, "No way! You’re a criminal. I was the one who caught you in the first place. I don't need to respect you," Ruby restated to get her point across.  
"You really think me getting caught was an accident, you just sped our plans along, but that is beside the real issue here. If the headbastard Ozpin hears you are disobeying the new teacher he’ll want to talk to you. And he doesn't even know that you know who I am. I might just accidentally mention that last night you almost broke my arm for information little Red's not even supposed to know."  
Roman had been slowly walking up to her as he spoke and he was now right next to Ruby, grinning. "Fine, I'll behave, just don't think I trust you and don't think Ozpin does either."  
Ruby backed up and Torchwick walked back to his desk, "If he doesn't trust me then, why are there no guards in this room or guarding my personal quarters."  
Ruby stopped moving to the door and stood once again in stunned silence. "Oh and Red," Torchwick put his mask back on, "your punishment for speaking out is an extra page for the homework."  
Those last words brought Ruby out of her stupor and she vanished out of sight.  
-Time Skip- cause I'm lazy  
Team RWBY sat in the library trying to do the numerous assignments given by their teachers. Weiss leaned over and stage whispered, "Hey Ruby, why are you acting so odd today?"  
Ruby looked up from her homework, "I'm not acting odd, I'm just fine."  
"Yeah, you're defiantly acting weird, first, I woke up before you, which is weird! Then you went really fest when I reminded you of the special announcement. Then you looked panicked when Blake asked why you were quiet. Then finally you talked back to our new teacher."  
Yang interrupted, "that was pretty awesome by the way."  
Weiss began talking again, "My point is you never act like this, it's like you took all the worst traits from us and enacted them today."  
Ruby continued doing her homework, but she looked hurt at her partner’s words. "Look guys, I'm sure Ruby's just stressed. I mean we have been having a lot of school work lately," Blake defended her.  
'You have no idea how much work' Ruby thought and then said, "Blake's right, I'm probably just not getting enough sleep."  
Yang just shrugged her shoulders and went back to her Vale History homework. Weiss stared at Ruby for a second then also went back to her work. Blake was already reading one of her books when Ruby looked at her.

-Time skip- yeah, so exciting, still lazy as you can see

Ruby had finished all her homework. She even finished the two page essay that Torchwick forced upon her. A few hours ago Ruby had told her friends the punishment and said she would finish her homework in library. "Don't wait up for me, it'll be late when I get back."  
Yang had said no of course, too dangerous but the other girls convinced her that Ruby could take care of herself and they needed their beauty rest as well. As Ruby read over the essay looking for mistakes she was reminded that Torchwick had no guards around his room. That made her so angry! So Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose and her homework and began using her semblance to speed to Torchwick's room. However when she got there the room was empty, all his stuff was there but there wasn't any sign of Torchwick. Ruby sat on the edge of his bed to wait, Crescent Rose in hand she set down her papers at her feet. But she was so tired, two late nights in a row was not good for a fifteen year old girl. So, finally she fell asleep.

-Time skip numero tresssss- that means number 3 did you know that... now you know!

Torchwick stepped into his room not at all prepared for what he saw. The day teaching stupid brats had exhausted him and he just wanted to get some rest. He opened the door to the small set of rooms and immediately noticed Ruby laying on his bed, her combat skirt riding slightly up as she snored softly. Her hair was in her face, her shirt wrinkled and breathing deeply through her mouth. Roman noticed the stack of papers and the overgrown garden tool laying haphazardly on the floor. He glanced at the clock, 12:26, she must have been here for a while. Although she was his new 'side project' he wouldn't take advantage of her while she slept. Though part of him want to, it would be better if she fell for him first. Deciding not to disturb her, he went and took his nightly shower and changed into pajamas. Wearing that mask all day was a real pain, but it was better than being dead, which was his other option. The mask thrown on the floor and his gloves removes, Torchwick finally felt relaxed, but then he remembered red. He sifted through her stack of homework, correcting grammar and problems as he went. A piece of homework caught his eyes. The title was, Why Learn How Criminals Think: To Outsmart them at their Own Game. Roman chuckled and read the first paragraph.

The Long Con. A phrase so simple, but it means so much. A criminal use it on you. Trickery. Fakery. Deception. All these words describe the long con. How can we beat it? How can we defeat the criminal at his own game? By learning how he does it and by conning him first. By following the rules and still making them think they can trust you. The Long Con. It lasts for a while, but so do we.

Torchwick raised his eyebrows, this girl knows more than she lets on. He’d have to stay on his toes just to avoid getting caught. But no matter what she wrote Roman didn't really believe Red would be able to do any long cons. She was just so... good, straight to her core. He read the rest of the paper then looked at the clock and yawned. Just because he wasn't going to take advantage of her while she was sleeping doesn't mean he was going to sleep on the floor. "Wake-up Red, wake-up," Torchwick whisper screamed to Ruby.  
Ruby half opened her eyes and yawned, but obviously wasn't awake because she just mumbled, "mmkay," and rolled over.  
The motion had caused her skirt to slide up farther but she didn't even notice as she drifted off to sleep. Torchwick sighed and smirked, "What's wrong with you Red? It's like you want to be taken advantage of."  
Roman needed sleep though, so he pulled the blankets over Ruby and laid down himself. After much tossing and turning, he finally fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG Ruby is sleeping with Roman, this is getting intense, what's going to happen next. Why did Blake defend Ruby, ahhh, will Ruby tell anyone, sooo, yeah, this is Gravity_Piglet, hope you enjoying my Rosewick trash


	5. Detention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, yay s0 exciting

Roman POV

The sun feels much more warm this morning than usual. Heat radiated around me and I realize my arms and legs were wrapped snugly around someone. I wonder who it is because it has been a long time since I've woken up in a situation like this. I brush the black hair out of the girls face just about to kiss her when I figure out. It's Red! I push backwards and fall out of my bed. That's right, last night I came back from getting lectured by the headbastard and found her here. Why the hell did I let her stay?

Ruby POV

I'm waken by someone jolting me awake. Where am I? How did I get here? Oh that's right, grrr, Torchwick. "Get up."  
I look down at myself. My skirt is half up and my shirt is wrinkled. "I found you sleeping here, I didn't do anything if your wondering. I recommend taking a shower then going back to your dorms. It's still early so Blondie, the ice b**** and the kitty cat are probably still sleeping."  
I stand up and glare at him. I still don't trust him. I grab Crescent Rose and leave as quickly as I can.

Normal POV

Ruby steps into the room, glistening from her shower. "Hey, Rubes, I didn't hear you come in last night," Yang called to Ruby. 

Blake was already up but Weiss was still asleep.  
"Oh, well, I don't even remember when I came in. Wait! I forgot my homework at the library!"  
Ruby speed dressed and left before any of them could question her. As she was running back to her room after grabbing her assignments Ruby ran into Professor Ozpin (literally, she even fell on her tush). "Why hello there Ruby, how have you been?"  
Ruby averted her gaze from the man's, he still didn't know she knew about Torchwick.  
"Good," she replied.

"Doing some light morning running?" Ruby just blushed, embarrassed she had run into him.

"I won't have any jobs for a few weeks, so you can relax and enjoy school." 

Ruby just nodded quickly at the principal, yelled "bye bye" and ran toward her room.

-

Blake was the only one left in the room when she returned. She looked up as Ruby entered with her homework in her hands. "Ruby, the other girls went to breakfast, I need to talk to you." 

Ruby grabbed her backpack and shoved the papers inside, not even glancing at them. "What do you want to talk to me about?" 

Ruby shifted her gaze nervously around the room. "Ruby look at me! I need you to tell me where you were last night. And the night before. And why you lied about cleaning Crescent Rose. I know that you think it might be necessary to keep secrets and that is okay, I just think that you should tell at least one person, in case something bad happens. It doesn't have to be me. Just know that I know how it feels to keep a secret from my friends." 

Blake turned to go to breakfast but Ruby appeared in front of her, blocking the way. "Wait! Blake! I'll tell you... So, I've been doing side missions for Ozpin for a while now. Two nights ago he told me to break Roman Torchwick out of jail. When I brought that guy back Ozpin wouldn't tell me what was going to happen to him. That night I found Torchwick's room and he told me. I don't want you to freak out but Professor Kasai is actually Torchwick. Then, yesterday, Torchwick tells me there are no guards around his room. That's why I didn't come back last night, I went to guard him myself." 

Ruby left out the part where she fell asleep in his room. Before Blake could react to the words that came out of Ruby's mouth, Ruby interrupted her, "you can't tell anyone! I'm not even supposed to know, also we should get to breakfast, I'm starving!" 

Blake followed after Ruby as she skipped to the lunch room, she clearly felt better after getting her secret off her chest, her heart was much clearer. 

-I know I know, time skips are overrated-

By the time third period rolled around Ruby had realized Torchwick had edited her homework. The other teachers had praised her for her improvement and she had known that the criminal was the only one who could have doctored her papers. Ruby and her friends stepped into the classroom and just like the day before, Proffesor Kasai was late. The fifteen year old got so into her conversation she didn't notice the professor standing in front of her desk. She didn't notice the silence of everyone else in class. Ruby finally noticed she was the only one talking and looked up to the masked man in front of her. Her heart began to beat wildly and her skin got hot. She was confused and her face felt flushed but she attributed the symptoms to embarrassment. "Ms. Rose," he began, "I thought we discussed yesterday the consequences of disobeying me." 

Blake still was dazed from the secret Ruby had told her, but she didn't fail to notice the bright blush on Ruby's face, "Yes sir, sorry, professor I didn't see you come in." 

Kasai smiled warmly under his full face mask, "ah! You didn't see me? In that case all is forgiven." He turned away to go back to the front of the room but stopped and slowly turned to face Ruby. 

"Just kidding!" the smile fell from the man's face and he let her see the fury in his eyes. "Ms. Rose, since you disobeyed my orders, you will spend an hour of you free time here every day. And since you made an excuse you will attend lunch detention until you learn that excuses get you nowhere. Let this be an example to the rest of you." 

The professor once again began making his way back to his desk when Yang stood up abruptly, "You can't just give her detention for saying sorry!" 

Kasai cocked his head to the side, "can't I? And if you, Ms. Xiao Long, don't sit down and shut your mouth you will be joining her." 

By the time the teacher had stopped talking, Blake and Ruby were holding Yang down while Weiss had a hand over the girls mouth. After much struggle Yang gave up and Weiss pulled her hand away, grimacing and wiping it on her shirt. The professor ignored the girls and started his lecture.

-

Torchwick POV

As I teach the class some of the things that would help them defeat me, I check that the grin I feel on my face doesn't show in my words. I saw that blush on Red's face earlier, it seems I am getting to her, even if she doesn't know it yet. It also occurs to me that if Red and her little friends hadn't shut Blondie up, I wouldn't get as much time to play with Red. Alone. That sister of her's seems to be trouble, and probably the same person who trashed Junior's bar a few months ago. The kitty cat girl is probably the girl Adam kept trying to keep me from finding out about. Either way, as long as they stay out of my way, I have no quarrel with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the reads and stars, I usually don't get this many, kudos to you and to your family and to your dog and to your cow. Thank you very much, love ya all, but mostly just I'm Rosewick trash. XD also to thank you all I have included my own fanart, enjoy. Or will soon with link.  
> Peace yall, see you at the next chapter.  
> by the way when I first wrote this ruby said "boy boy" when she left Ozpin, I was laughing so hard man, so hard.  
> https://goo.gl/photos/SWPkrpApjBYmuRwr9  
> that's the link for the picture I drew to thank you all for reading, ;)


	6. Blush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup yall, I really need to finish actually watching RWBY but im dumb so. Yeah, sorry for not uploading for so long

Ruby groaned as she stepped into Professor Kasai's classroom for lunch detention. "Why'd he have to punish me, all I did was talk a little," Ruby grumbled as she trudged to her desk.   
"He has many reasons for punishing you. For one, you suck at this class and you need tutoring as well as the fact that you dear Red disobeyed me. If I don't make an example out of you then the other brats might disobey me as well."   
Torchwick spoke to Ruby as he shut the door and once again threw off the mask. Ruby silently stared at the orange haired criminal. Torchwick smirked when he saw her staring and winked at her. Ruby blushed and brought her hand to her face, what was wrong with her today? Did she catch a cold or something because she kept feeling her face heat up. Although weirdly enough it only happened when she was around Torchwick. "He probably is poisoning me or something," Ruby thought.

Roman grabbed his sandwich out of a small container as well as Ruby's two page essay. When he reached Ruby's desk he slapped it down in front of the girl. "To be frank Red, you suck."   
Ruby looked down at the essay she had worked so hard to finish, on the top, in red ink, was a big fat 2%, an F. She sifted throughout the paragraphs she had painstakingly edited just to show Torchwick that she wasn't stupid, and they were crossed out and edited, covered in red ink, which is kind of ironic because Ruby means red.

Torchwick sat on the table and pushed Ruby's head up with his fingers until their gazes met. He grinned at the blushing girl, "it seems you're not as amazing as you claim, Red. You might need help, from I don't know... a criminal."   
Roman took his fingers away from her chin and turned to show the girl what she had done wrong. Ruby clenched her teeth and listened, even though she didn't want to.

The rest of lunch detention passed without incident. After all Torchwick knew to wrap Red around his pinky finger he would have to be patient and sly. He would have to slowly take her innocent little heart and make it his to crush.

Ruby POV

I start walking to my next class from Torchwick's hell detention room. I have yet to meet up with the rest of my team but I'm sure they will sympathize with me. I feel so much better knowing that someone else knows about Torchwick. However I do feel somewhat worried about my face getting warm all the time but I'll ask the team when I get back. They'll probably know what's wrong with me because they actually took health class in their last year in their previous academies. I hear voices as I round the corner and see Ozpin talking to a stranger. The last thing I hear him say is, "The plan cannot work without her." Ozpin raised a hand to the stranger to silence him and motioned toward me. The two men began talking too quietly to hear and they walk away from me. I look after them and wonder why nobody tells me anything. I continue onward toward my next class.

Normal POV

Ruby sat down at her usual place among her friends and began complaining about the tutoring session she had with Professor Kasai before this. Finally she asked, "do you think I'm getting sick? My face gets really hot when I'm around one person."   
Yang jumped up from her seat, "ahh, my little sister's in love."   
"Huh?" Ruby asked.   
"Well, when you like someone you blush when they are around you," Weiss explained to her.  
"But I like you guys and my face never feels hot." Blake stayed silent and Yang said, "this is only when you want to be in a romantic relationship with them and do ********* and ********** with them."   
"YANG!!!!" Weiss scolded and covered Ruby's ears, "don't defile her innocence."   
"Oh," Ruby replied, "but I don't really want to do that with him."   
Yang grinned, "Are you sure?"   
Then she began chuckling, "my sister is all grown up!!!!"   
However then Pyrrha joined the conversation, "but sometimes you love someone and don't blush," she herself then turned bright red.   
Ruby nodded, "that makes sense, and after all I never see Nora and Ren blushing when they are around each other."   
I'm sure if Nora had been there she would have denied it but all the girls there knew what Ruby said was true. Then Yang asked the question they were all wondering, "So who's the lucky boy?"  
All the other girls voiced their agreement that Ruby should tell them who the boy she had the hots for was. When Ruby wouldn't tell them Pyrrha asked sounding quite distressed, "it isn't Jaune is it?"   
Ruby shook her head and sighed then said, "I can't tell you."   
All the girls huffed and turned to continue working except Yang who said, "I know who it is."   
Ruby looked terrified, "You do?"   
All the other girls echoed after Ruby and Yang licked her lips, pausing for effect. "It's Professor Kasai, right? I saw you blush when he called you out."   
Ruby blushed and nodded but Weiss said, "Isn’t he a little too old for you Ruby?"   
Ruby shrank back into her chair, not used to the barrage of questions. Pyrrha however defended her, "We have no idea how old he is, after all he is always wearing that mask."   
Blake, who had been silent up till now interrupted Weiss and said, "It’s getting late, I think we should crash, we have more school tomorrow."   
The rest of the girls agreed and began leaving but Blake grabbed Ruby before the girl could exit the library and whispered, "I know you can't control your attraction, I had the same problem, but know that Roman Torchwick is not trustworthy. Be careful, don't fall into his traps. He is full of malice and will stop at nothing to get his goal. Be careful Ruby, you matter more than he does."   
Blake then let Ruby flee to the room, knowing the Rose girl would sneak out to once again go guard Roman, because apparently the school feels he is trustworthy enough to not warrant a proper guard.


	7. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, my, goodness. It has been so long since I posted. Sooooo long. i finally finished this chapter and there will be more to come soon. This was an idea given to me by a friend of mine, so please enjoy this Rosewick Trash. XD Gravity_Piglet out.

Torchwick stood in the headmaster's office, his mask removed and his hands swinging at his sides. "Report!" Ozpin ordered the criminal and smirked.

"Just so you know, I'm only doing this so I don't die, either by the hands of of Ironwood or by the hands of that evil Cinder Hell for being a nard. I still have my own thought and I will only stay here so long as it benefits me."

Torchwick glared at Ozpin, but the headmaster just disregarded the man's words, "I know, I know. You're a sociopath, we get it. Now, report!"

Roman sighed and decided to tell Ozpin a partial truth, "Red is none too happy about there being no guards on my door, in fact, I am curious about that as well."

Ozpin looked mildly surprised, "Ruby knows where you quarters are?"

"Yeah, so she came by last night and guarded the room herself, which I think is probably not an order you issued?"

"Is there anything else you would like to share?" Ozpin asked, his voice still betrayed no surprise at Ruby's night occupation or Roman's candor about the situation.

Torchwick raised his eyebrows at the man's question, "No, and if you don't mind I have to go get some sleep. After all, you have given me class to teach.

Roman clenched his teeth and grabbed his mask, slipping it over his features. The full face mask was intricately patterned and had holes for only the eyes. On one side of the mask was painted a Behemoth, and the other side was a hunter. Not one of this era, but a hunter of the past, complete with bow and leather jerkins. The mask had a small grate for the mouth and also covered most of the wearers hair as well. The result of the aforementioned mask was of slight awe for those around the wearer and uncomfort for Torchwick, as it was quite restricting. Torchwick didn't ask permission from the headmaster before he slipped out of the man's office and down to his own abode; where he found Ruby. Again. Except this time the girl was awake and on high alert. When Roman saw her he said, "It looks like you've finally realized the danger of being in the same room as me gives you."

Ruby hissed and backed farther to the wall, " I always knew you were dangerous."

Roman chuckled and ripped the constricting mask off his face, then grabbed pajamas from his lower drawer. He grinned at Ruby and didn't respond, just stepped into the bathroom to take a shower.

\- Time skip, because really? Really? Do I have to say? I don't have to write about taking a shower. Deal with it.

This time to her credit Ruby stayed awake and was standing guard outside the bathroom when Torchwick emerged. "Ah you are still awake. Are you going to be here all night? Because I need my beauty sleep and I think you do too."

Ruby rolled her eyes and glared, "I'll stay by the door so that if you walk out you will have to go past me."

Torchwick grabbed a pillow and threw it to her, then said, "Are you sure you don't want to cuddle, instead of sleeping on the cold hard floor?"

He raised an eyebrow and Ruby's face turned a bright shade of red, remembering the words of her sister earlier in the day. The girl sputtered and replied, "N-n-n-no! Why would I?!?"

Ruby snatched the pillow and laid down in front of the door, facing away from Torchwick. He chuckled and flopped onto his bed. He grinned to himself, 'Red has no idea what she is getting into.' After that thought and a few more... evil ones Roman fell asleep.

\- Somewhere else-

Roman was once again being chased by Ruby because of his misdeeds, and this time the rest of her team was following as well. He continued running but turned backwards and fired Melodic Cudgel at the girls. To his satisfaction the bullet hit the blonde haired one. He continued sprinting away as the girls stopped. As soon as he was far enough away Torchwick turned back to assess the situation. Ruby was bent over the blondie, as was the faunas girl. The ice queen stood to the side and Torchwick saw the glint of her rapier as she pulled it from its sheath. Roman took off at a run toward them. He screamed out as Weiss plunged the sword into Ruby's gut. She laughed as Ruby fell to the ground and began coughing up blood. Torchwick skidded to a stop when he reached the girls and wrapped his hands around the Schnee's throat. His growl was primal as he began choking the girl. He felt a small hand grab his ankle, Torchwick looked down to see a bleeding Ruby. For a second he thought, 'how ironic, her name is Ruby and that is the color of her blood.' However he banished the thought from his mind and tightened his hold on Weiss' neck. Then in a small voice Ruby croaked, "I would never sentence anyone to death."

Roman dropped the seemingly unconscious girl and kneeled next to the dying one. She coughed again, staining his white jacket with slick blood. And though she was at death's door the girl smiled kindly. Her teeth were covered in blood so her smile looked somewhat demented, but kind nonetheless. Torchwick looked up briefly and saw Weiss standing behind an icy beast holding a jagged blade. As the frozen blade slammed down, Torchwick stood petrified. Suddenly rose petals filled his vision and he blinked. Despite her wounds Ruby had moved in front of the orange haired man, the sword slicing through her torso in his stead. As the girl fell into his arms Torchwick screamed out the girl's name. Not Red, or little girl, or even Ms. Rose, Torchwick screamed out Ruby. The icy monster raised the weapon once again and brought it down on the distraught criminal.

-

Roman woke up in a cold sweat, Ruby's name still on his lips from the nightmare. He shivered then clenched his teeth. Why should he care if little Red dies? Why should her being killed exactly like his mother was be a nightmare for him? So Torchwick got up, knowing he wouldn't be able to return to sleep with thought like these roaming in his mind. He opened the door and carefully stepped over Ruby into the dark hallway beyond.


	8. Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly filler but there is some important sterf in there so you should probably not skip it. Anyway, it is summer now so I have been updating a lot more, however there may be a bit of a delay on the next few chapters because I finally got an editor. Yay!!! Enjoy. Gravity_Piglet out. ;D

Torchwick was wondering the empty halls of the school, not quite lost but still not knowing where he was going. The walls echoed with his footsteps as he pondered the dream. He tried to think of answers to the questions that taunted him. Fed up with his own disrest Torchwick took off at a run, nothing like some exercise to clear his mind. About twenty minutes after he left his room he ended up at the courtyard near the entrance to the school. Roman stopped to rest and was not completely surprised to see another person's silhouette. He hid in the shadows to see who the person was and not be seen himself. He had not worn his mask so if it was one of the students there was a chance that they would attack him if they saw him. So he stayed well hidden until he recognized the person walking across the lawn. The faunas that had yet to notice him. The man's normal mask was removed, the mask that identified him as the leader of the white fang. His red hair was styled in it's usual way and he wore his usual clothing. Torchwick launched himself from the bushes the moment he recognized his former coworker. He slammed Adam into the ground, pressing his arm into the man's throat. "What are you doing here? Did Cinder send you? How'd she know I was here?"

Adam coughed and Torchwick released his arm a bit so the man could answer his questions. "Cinder doesn't know I'm here. So get off me," Adam choked out and Roman released the other man from his hold.

Roman stood and brushed off the dirt that had accumulated on his body. "So if Cinder isn't the reason for your visit, why are you here? I thought you hated all humans."

Adam turned to glare at Torchwick and put his hand on his sword sheath, "I won't ask why you are here and you will do the same. You won't snitch on me and I won't snitch on you."

Apprehensive was Roman, however he had no desire that Cinder find out about his new 'job'. So he grit his teeth and said, "fine."

Adam saluted the other man and sprinted away, Torchwick shaking his head as the man grew farther away. The orange haired man sighed and returned to his room, stepping over Ruby as he entered.

-Ruby POV-

Pain explodes in my stomach and I curl up to avoid the blows that are landing on my body. I open my eyes and squint at the blinding light. I feel a sharp burst of pain again and look up to see Torchwick standing above me. I growl and the next time he kicks out I grab his leg and twist it so he falls. He stands up swiftly and I can feel his angered glare as I try to go back to sleep. I vaguely hear him walk away but the sleep calls me back and I ignore whatever he may be doing. I'm just about to get to a good part in the dream when cold water wakes me. I shiver and stand up ready to beat Torchwick. "What was that for!" I practically yell, but try to keep my voice down so the neighbors don't hear me.

"It's time to get up," he replies, his voice monotone.

I clench my teeth, "Couldn't you have just told me that? Now how am I going to get back to the showers without suspicion?!?"

He narrows his eyes at me, his hair still mussed from sleeping. I feel like he is more cold today than all the other days he has been here. This doesn't matter though, he is a criminal and doesn't deserve my empathy. The orange haired devil turned away and pulls a t-shirt out of his dresser and throws it at me, "wear this. And get out. I have stuff to do and you don't want your little friends wondering where you were."

I sigh and pull the over sized shirt over my tank top. I grab Crescent Rose and get out of there.

-Normal POV-

Ruby zoomed down the halls to her team's room and stopped when she arrived there. She slowly peeled the door open, careful not to wake it's inhabitants. Ruby was afraid that one of her friends would wake up and see her in Torchwick's shirt and make wrong assumptions. The girl yawned and climbed up to her bunk making sure not to shake Weiss's bed. Ruby fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

About an hour later the other girls began waking up. Ruby stretched and climbed down from her bed, Yang was the only one awake at that time, which was quite unusual because she normally woke after Blake. A sly smile crossed her face when she saw Ruby's attire. "I've never seen that shirt before, sister of mine. It looks a little too big for you," she commented as she grabbed her clothes and began dressing.

Ruby's eyes darted back and forth her mind whirling to make up an excuse, "I bought it a few days ago and it was cozy so I decided to buy it for pajamas."

Yang just rolled her eyes smiled, "riiiiiggghhhttt," her voice was sarcastic and Ruby knew her sister didn't believe her.

The girl ignored her older sister and began dressing. By the time the others were awake Ruby had changed out of the foreign shirt and was standing ready by the door with her uniform on. "Come on team! We need to go to breakfast! Weiss! Hurry it up."

Blake looked at her leader oddly, wondering if something had changed during the night that Ruby was now so chipper in the morning. She shrugged and resolved to ask the girl later but for now... her stomach rumbled and she hurriedly dressed to go down to breakfast. Team JNPR and Team RWBY sat across from each other and ate their oatmeal, idly discussing random topics. Ruby tuned in to hear Nora say, "... so then I grabbed by hammer and smashed Ren into the dust. But that was only after he had shot up the classroom."

Ren interrupted saying, "Actually, I had a cold and had sneeze, Nora decided it wasn't sanitary and hit me with a toy hammer."

"And when was this?" intoned Yang.

"Preschool," Ren replied, ignoring the argueing of Weiss and Jaune.

Pyrrha joined in on the conversation, "I didn't know you guys knew each other for that long. That's super cool. And it is great you got to be partners after knowing each other for so long."

"Yeah but how long have you been together?" Yang raised her eyebrows at the two and wiggled them around.

Nora laughed awkwardly, "We are not together. Well we are together, but we are not together together."

"How would you know anyway, I don't think any of us have been in a relationship yet," Weiss voiced toward Yang.

"Actually I have been in a relationship with someone," Yang replied mysteriously.

"Really! Who was it with?" Nora asked while Yang laughed without giving any hints of who she had been in a relationship.

"You never told me about this," Ruby voiced quietly as the others continued trying to wheedle the answer out of her sister.

"Well, I didn't want to tell my baby sister about something that only I need to know about, plus it only happened recently, so you don't need to worry at all about it," Yang grinned and laughed, "as if you have anywhere to talk. You can't fool anyone, you didn't buy that shirt this morning, that is a man's shirt. And it is not dad's."

The rest of the table gasped and Ruby pulled her hood over her eyes, hiding the blush beneath the thick red fabric. To her relief the receptionist's voice was heard over the loud speakers, "Ruby Rose please come to Professor Ozpin's office immediately. Ruby Rose to Professor Ozpin's office."

Ruby stood up from the table quickly, without saying anything she zoomed off in the direction of the tower. Rose petals flew behind her as she continued to the Headmaster's office. When she neared the building she slowed and straightened her clothes. She stepped off the elevator and was greeted with the familiar sight of Headmaster Ozpin sitting at his desk shifting through papers, he didn't even look up when she entered the room. Ruby stood in front of his desk for a time, waiting patiently for the older man to speak. Finally he raised his head and acknowledged Ruby's presence, "Ms. Rose, I have a new job for you."

The girl nodded but then interrupted her senior, "Hopefully not like the last one. Please give me a mission where I can help people. Not criminals."

Ozpin chuckled, "No, you will enjoy this. I have word that there is stolen dust in an old warehouse in the east city. I want you to go there and see if it is true."

"And if it is?" Ruby asked anxiously.

"Return it to it's owner. Besides that there is the other manner by which I would like to speak to you about," Ruby tilted her head and Ozpin continued, "It has come to my attention that you have been guarding Roman Torchwick's rooms at night. I would like to inform you that this is not acceptable. Ruby you need sleep, and we have everything under control. However I know you will continue doing so anyway. If you do continue to guard his room, just beware, he has lived far longer than you, and is a far better con artist than you can ever know."

Ruby rolled her eyes, why could no one trust her? Why did they all think they needed to warn her about Torchwick? She was the first person who fought him anyway. Ozpin dismissed Ruby and told her she was excused from her day's classes to complete the assignment she had received. She sighed in relief when she realized she didn't have to go to Roman's class, lunch detention, or even her tutoring session, she was excused from all of them because of Ozpin's special mission. What a blessing in disguise!


	9. Blond Bite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry no Torchwick in this chapter, and it is extremely short. I apologize this is filler and also some information needed later in the story. Once again sorry for the lack of Roman, but the next chapter might be better. XD

A few days after her mission Ruby was still nursing bruised arms and a rather splendid looking black eye. Of course when talking to her friends she told them she had only fallen down. Yang and Weiss dismissed it easily enough knowing full well how clumsy their sister and friend was. Plus they had another dance to plan and though it was still weeks away the preparations were even more extensive than the last dance. Taking a note from Proffessor Kassai's book they decided the dance would be a masquerade ball. Well besides that only Blake was concerned about the state Ruby was in. She knew about the secret missions Ruby received from Ozpin so the leader reluctantly told of her exploits three days prior.  
\- Ruby zoomed across town a small smile gracing her face as she felt the cold winter air touch her cheeks. She laughed a little as she imagined the rest of her team sitting in their classes learning history, then felt slightly lonely. This would be so much more fun if she could do it with her team. Banishing the thought from her mind she concentrated once again on the mission the Headmaster had given her. Finally arriving at her destination, Ruby perched on a rafter and settled down to watch. Since the mission was first to see if the rumor was true, attacking needlessly would only create further problems. Ruby was not good at being patient. So waiting hours for someone to show up at a potentially unimportant spot was probably not the greatest mission for her. After about 4 hours of silence Ruby had eaten a chocolate chip cookie and promptly fell asleep. Since the girl was quite high into the air she did not even wake up when some men entered the warehouse. The 7 men wore suits and each had guns or weapons of various sizes loading them down. Unbeknownst to her, Crescent Rose, which had no been securely fastened to Ruby's sheath (belt? back? etc.?) tumbled down and landed in front of the man who seemed to be leading the group. In wonder the man picked it up and seemed to remember it from somewhere. Ruby, who by the way, was still asleep, fell off her perch and tumbled down, smashing into a crate of boxes. The boxes were filled to the brim with rare and non-rare wines and alcohols. The impact of hitting the boxes finally woke the girl and she scrambled to return to a fighting stance. However without her weapon, which was in the hands of the lead man, the girl did not look imposing at all. Her thin arms didn't even protect her already bruised face. "Those boxes sure do pack a punch," the man in front of her said, gaining her attention, "what's your name?"  
Ruby stared at her weapon which rested easily in the man's hands, "Ruby Rose. Now please give me my scythe back."  
The man stepped closer to Ruby, "I'm Junior, and it seems I am acquainted with your sister. Now, if you had been anyone else I might of had to teach you a lesson for breaking into my storehouse, but you know, it would pretty great if Blondie owed me a few favors."  
Ruby looked down sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to trespass on an innocent man's soil. I was just looking for some stolen dust."  
After telling Junior her apologies Ruby zoomed forward and grabbed the weapon his hands, then got the hey out of there.  
\- After telling Blake all that had transpired Ruby was forced, by Blake and the rest of her team of course, to go shopping for dresses and lady stilts.  
Time skip, whoop whoop. Time skip comin through, honk honk.  
Junior stood at the bar cleaning glasses, his mind preoccupied. It wasn't hard to see the resemblance between blondie and the other girl. Their mannerism were completely different though. While Blondie was a tornado, sweeping up everything in her path, Ruby was a fresh spring wind, cleansing and exhilarating. At that very moment Yang herself walked into the bar, "speak of the devil. And she certainly is a devil."  
Yang smirked as she approached the point where Junior was standing, "Haven't seen you in a bit, what can I get you Blondie. The usual?"  
"I'm feeling adventurous, give me your favorite," Yang voiced, sliding into the bar stool.  
As Junior mixed up the drink, a mix of Moonshine and sake, a western and eastern mix of flavors, topped off with fresh lemonade and lime juice, he spoke to the huntress in front of him, "I met your sister the other night. She broke into one of my warehouses. Fell out of the sky onto a box of my finest wine, good thing she is so light wise she'd have broken them. And would have to pay off her debt like you did."  
Yang stood up in her chair quickly, "If you hurt her I swear..."  
"I didn't hurt her, okay? Now don't go smashing stuff, I just fixed it since your last brawl, when that guy tried to pick you up." Junior interrupted her and pured the drink into a petite cup, then added a little umbrella, knowing her fascination with the drink toppers. "Plus, now you owe me."  
Yang sipped from the glass and nodded in approval at the taste, she ignored the last part of the sentence, "what is this called? I might get it again."  
Junior looked up from cleaning the instruments he used to make the drink, he chuckled, "It's called Blond Bite, thought you might enjoy it."  
"And this is your favorite drink? Are you sure you aren't hinting at something?" Junior ignored her and continued cleaning, finally grabbing a rag to wipe down the counter.  
He stopped when he reached where Yang was and looked down at her, "Maybe I am Blondie, you should stay to find out."  
Time skip again my readers, time skip again.  
When Ruby returned the next morning from guarding Torchwick's room, once again wearing his t-shirt, which she had actually started wearing as pajama's, she found Yang's bed still empty. Ruby hopped into bed, determined to ask her sister about it later. However when the girl entered the room, merely minutes later, her face was practically glowing. Yang looked about guiltily then climbed up into her own bed. Ruby then thought, if she doesn't want to tell me, she doesn't have to, although I really don't like being left in the dark. I have my own secrets too. Yang yawned and slipped into sleep, Ruby watching over her and her dreams.


	10. Foxes and Sparrows/ Dead Faint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are, 10 chapters, what a beautiful thing, how wonderful! Thanks so much for reading this and for being one of the reasons I kept this going for so long. The other reason of course is that I am Rosewick trash. Love ya. ;)  
> Gravity_Piglet out.

Ruby didn't necessarily dislike dances, it wasn't like she didn't see the good points of parties either. She just was uncomfortable wearing clothes such as these and having to actually talk to people. Yang told her that to grow up she had to expand her circle and meet new people to grow up. Like always she had replied with the words, "I don't need people to grow up. I drink milk." Yet here she was, wearing a sparrow mask, standing by the punch bowl, watching Weiss and Yang welcome the other students and teachers. It had taken the latter part of an hour for her team to force her into the thigh high dress. The sleeves ended in tips on her hand and swathes of cloth fell off her arms to look like wings. The skirt portion poufed out with borrowed brown and red petticoats, while the top hugged Ruby's still forming curves. The dress itself was a bright red and Ruby wore crimson flats with beads decorating them. On her lower back her symbol, a burning rose, was cut into the fabric, exposing her pale skin. The mask covered the top half of her face, that is to say, from her forehead down till her nose. It was covered in fake red feathers that had white and brown gems holding the feathers in place. Yang had forced her to wear a light lip-gloss that made her lips a nice scarlet shade. Her team had shoved her out the door into the hallway where she stopped struggling and resigned herself to her fate. So here Ruby stood, sipping punch, admiring costumes and when someone in a bear mask approached, she was asked to dance. And after the first few dances, the Rose girl actually started to enjoy herself.  
Torchwick entered the gymnasium/all purpose room wearing a black jacket with double coat tails. He stepped up to Yang and she welcomed him, "Professor Kasai!" she gave him a once over, "Nice costume. Did you know Professor that you always wearing a mask gave us the idea for the masquerade, so feel proud. Please have fun and no need to act like a teacher for one night," she winked at the man.  
Kasai bowed his head in acceptance, "I'll hold you to that," he promised, then entered the throng of students.  
-Ruby POV-  
I spin from the arms of person to person and laugh, when you don't have lady stilts on, dances are actually sort of fun. I stop to take a drink of punch and hydrate myself then go back to dancing with people I don't even recognize because of their masks. Suddenly I'm pulled away from the person I was dancing with and am in the arms of someone else. He is wearing a fox mask with a long black tail coat, with orange collar and cuffs. The rest of his suit is a mix of black and orange, while on his head rests a black fedora. "Torchwick," I say under my breath, only he would wear such a costume and get away with it.  
Normal POV  
Ruby is twirled around by various students and Roman clenches his teeth, little Red is his and his alone. Breaking control Torchwick grabs Ruby and pulls her into the next dance, he leans close to her ear and whispers, "Having fun Red?"  
She immediately pulls back, her face the same color as the mask that covers it. She continues dancing with the man although she wants to run away, she isn't supposed to know he is a criminal after all. "I was, having fun that is. Until you showed up," Ruby answered his question.  
The song changed to a slow song and Roman pulled Ruby even closer, "Oh, really. You look like you are still having fun to me. After all I am having fun, plus your sister told me that I don't need to act like a teacher for one night, so I can have all the fun I want."  
Ruby's face heated up a bit more and she gave a little "Eep!" as Torchwick’s lips brushed against her ear. "Stop it!" she whispered toward him, "Why did you come as a fox anyway?" she directed the conversation away from the current topic.  
"Well Red, isn't it obvious? Foxes eat sparrows," he grinned and for once Ruby was able to see it, for the mask was only a half mask, much like her own.  
Ruby clenched her teeth and continued dancing, "Yes, but sparrows can escape with their razor sharp reflexes. A sparrow can catch a fox in its cage with cunning and speed."  
Roman was now only a centimeter away from Ruby and she could feel his warm breath on her, "Foxes are pretty cunning too you know, I wonder who is more cunning, hmm? Who is in control now?"  
At this point Ruby's face was burning and so was the rest of her body, and like a sparrow dying in the hands of a fox, her legs crumpled and she fainted. Torchwick chuckled a bit, he didn't think she would get so flustered, then he pulled his teacher mask back on. People were noticing the collapsed girl and were beginning to surround her.  
Kasai pulled off her mask and felt Ruby's forehead, "I'm afraid Ms. Rose has a fever, I will return her to her room. Please do not let this disturb your fun. I'm sure Ms. Rose would agree if she could say so."  
The professor picked up the small girl in his arms and shoved through the students to the door. By that time Yang had joined the party herself so she did not even see him carry her, not to her room but to a secluded corner of the garden.  
When Ruby awoke she had the distinct feeling of being carried, she hadn't felt such a sensation since she was a child and her father had carried her about. She looked up and was surprised to see a fox mask staring back at her. Realizing who was carrying her she screamed and landed punches on the man. "Put me down!!!" She shrieked and continued bombarding him with punches, which had absolutely no effect on him.  
Finally Roman chuckled and set her down, then removed his mask so that she could see his face. "Hey! What's so funny?" Ruby asked, vexed.  
"You suck at punching! Red, how can you be so powerful with an overgrown gardening tool and not know how to do hand to hand combat?" he laughed more and Ruby glared at him.  
Torchwick then, calmed down and looked at Ruby, he raised his eyebrows, "Do you want me to teach you?"  
Ruby looked down and ignored Roman's knowing smirk, "Why would you help me like that? You are my enemy, so why would you teach me something that may make me more powerful than you."  
The orange haired man once again pushed Ruby's head up so that she could see him, "For one, you will never be as good as me at hand to hand combat. Number two, technically I'm not your enemy," Ruby started to say something but Torchwick put his finger over her mouth.  
"I worked for your enemy, and even though I was the one you saw the most that doesn't mean that I was your enemy. Now I work for the head-bastard, so we're almost allies, yes?" he took his finger away from her mouth.  
"Fine, teach me." Ruby's eyes narrowed and Roman quickly swiped out his leg so that Ruby was lying on the ground groaning.  
"First lesson: Always be ready for an attack, when you twisted my arm the first night here I had neglected to be on my guard, you must never do the same. Now get up," Ruby moaned.  
Then she grinned, she kicked out, trying to topple Torchwick, however he just stepped aside and grabbed her leg, "Second lesson: Do not make a move unless you know such a move will either hit your opponent or distract him from your real hit."  
"I know that much at least," Ruby gasped and wrapped her legs around him and then flipping him.  
In the process of the flip Ruby forgot to remove her legs and ended up flipping along with him. His momentum carrying her so that when he landed she slammed into him. "What are you doing Red? Do you want to beat me that much? I told you, the fox always eats the sparrow."  
At that he turned the two of them over so that he was leaning over Ruby, she blushed, finally realizing the situation she was in. She struggled against his hold and his hand dug into her wrists, "Sometimes an enemy, may in fact let you get a hit in so that the situation may turn to his advantage."  
Ruby barely breathed, "What is the point of the enemy's need to get the advantage?" she whispered, they both knew she was really asking why he had let her throw him.  
Roman grinned and leaned his face closer to Ruby's, "To teach little Red a lesson."  
The girl shuddered at his words and opened her eyes wide when he lowered his face even more. Slowly as if through sand he brushed his lips against Ruby's and for the second time that night the girl fainted.  
Roman chuckled, this was easier than he originally assumed. Then he thought back to earlier in the night when he had first seen Ruby laughing and dancing with boy after boy. Somehow he felt selfish, more so than usual, when he saw her. That night when he had first seen her in her cute little sparrow costume he really had wanted to eat her up. Roman recognized the warning signs, but there wasn't much he could do about it now. The fox was already trapped by the sparrow.  
-Elsewhere-  
Cinder sat on the bed of their dorm room while Mercury sat on the floor and Emerald paced, her clear melodic voice rang out, "Any news? Besides the masquerade ball going on today."  
Mercury raised his head, "There is a new teacher, calls himself Kasai."  
The powerful woman raised her eyebrows, "What class does he teach?"  
It was Emerald who spoke up this time, as always, eager to please, "Criminal Psychology, it is required for all first years and optional for other students. Rumor is he never takes off his mask because he is a very powerful and sought after hunter."  
A smile ghosted across Cinder's lips, "It seems Roman has found a new boss. I knew not trusting him was the right idea. Well, the Vytal Festival is coming up. This changes nothing, do not inform that Torchwick is still alive. And do not reveal you know his identity, he'll be killed with the rest of them.”


	11. Kiss?

Ruby woke up with a start, her hair sticking together with sweat. She groaned and shoved the blankets off her body, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. When she pulled her hand away black streaks marred the pure white of her skin. She pulled back in surprise and then scanned her body. Instead of her usaul pajamas she still wore the dress from the night before. Her shoes had been removed but other than that her appearence was the same as the previous night, albeit more wrinkled. The memories from the previous night slowly drifted back to her, trickles of foxes, teasing and extra lesson, then came the inevitable, "AHHHHHH!!!! WHAT THE HELL!!!"  
Obviously, said screaming in reaction memories of a kiss woke the rest of her team, Yang sat bolt up right, Weiss grabbed her sword and stood at the ready, while Blake arched her back and hissed. Yang was the first to realize it was Ruby who had screamed and used the vulgar term, "Ruby! What's wrong? Did someone attack you?"  
The team leader had begun calming down and realized her mistake in screaming out, "Sorry everyone, I had a nightmare."  
Her lie sounded in her teams ears and Blake flicked her 'kitty' ears toward Ruby, however she kept quiet while Yang and Weiss reluctantly accepted Ruby's explanation. The girls decided that there was no point going back to sleep and decided to dress and have a team battle, no allainces. In the practise room the girls fought each other perfecting new moves and bringing their speed up. In time the fighting cleared Ruby's horror about what had happened the night before. She swung her scythe lazily about her as they looked at the clock and found that it was breakfast time. Weiss and Yang walked ahead of Blake and Ruby, discussing different ways to incorperate dust into Yang's attacks. Blake quietly asked Ruby, "Why did you really scream? I know that you didn't have a nightmare."  
Ruby sighed and answered the only person who knew her secret, "Well, you know, last night I fainted at the dance, that was because he was teasing me. Then, since he is a teacher it was normal for him to carry me to my room. He didn't though, and I woke up in his arms behind the school," the girl blushed and noticed a lull in the conversation in front of her, when they started up again, "He ended up offering to teach me hand to hand combat. I wanted to show him that I was better than him however, he didn't like that and I was on the ground before I knew it. Then he... he...."  
Blake quietly asked, "What did he do?" and waited for her leader's answer.  
The Rose's face blushed a brilliant red, "he... he kissed me."  
The faunas chuckled at her friends embarrassed face, "I can see why that would make you scream," she noticed the other girls listening to their conversation, "having a dream where Roman Torchwick kissed you would scare anyone!"  
Ruby was confused by her candor, however her sister and friend just began to comfort her, saying things like, "I'm sorry Ruby, that must have been scary," or "If he ever did something like that in real life I would kill him." The girl in question felt guilty, for the criminal had in reality kissed her, successfully stealing her first locking of lips. With her team comforting her as they walked to the cafeteria Ruby sighed and resolved to put the incident out of mind. She down with her cereal and chomped down on the spoon. Finding that their leader was moderately back to normal they began to talk in excited voices about the night before. Team JNPR sat down next to them and joined in the conversation, Pyrrha finally saying, "Ruby, are you okay? I saw you faint last night, did you make it back to your room okay?"  
Ruby looked up from her food, she laughed, "Yeah, I woke up this morning and still had my make-up and dress on, it was uncomfortable!"  
Next to the now empty bowl of cereal was a pile of cookies and a tall glass of milk, which the kind lunch ladies provided everyday just for Ruby. She began shoving cookies in her mouth, effectively silencing any further questions about the night before. Ruby hated lying. Finally unable to contain herself Ruby asked the question she had been wondering since she remembered the kiss, "Hey guys, I know this is a weird question, but when someone kisses someone else on the lips and they aren't related, what does it mean?"  
Yang started laughing and she fell off her chair, Weiss looked sternly at the laughing girl and Blake didn't bother to respond. As for team JNPR, Jaunne looked down and blushed, while Nora glanced at Ren and Pyrrha answered the young girl's question, "Ruby, it means that they love each other in the romantic way."  
The blond haired beauty stopped laughing and continued on from Pyrrha's explanation, "Kissing leads to other things as well," she ignored Weiss' glare, "She is going to learn it someday anyway! Kissing can lead to a more complicated relationship with the other person and do *********as well as **********. Hey, sister of mine? Do you perchance want to kiss someone? Proffessor Kasai perhaps?"  
Ruby shook her head frantically at her sister and Blake notice how uncomfortable she was, "Why don't we put a hold on this... riveting.... conversation. And get to class, otherwise we will be late."  
Jaunne, always one to be embarrassed by awkward conversations ushered his team out of the cafeteria and they all jogged to their first class of the day, Ruby's mind still preoccupied with the words of Pyrrha and her sister. If Roman kissed her, did that mean he liked her. All she knew was that she was dreading going to her tutoring session that day.


	12. Reasons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are finally getting to the climax of the story, I'm so excited about this

For the whole time that Ruby was in his classroom Roman acted the same as he usually did. He knew this would surprise little Red and would mean that he could have more fun later. Even if he did like the girl too much didn't mean he couldn't have his fun with her. After all he had chosen her to be his new toy. That day he had been teaching the class about the different types of killers, such as premeditated killers and spur of the moment killers. The class then had a debate about the advantageous and disadvantages of both. Weiss brought out that since non-planned murders were just that the killers themselves would be easier to catch, while a premeditated killer thought ahead on how to avoid detection. Kasai acknowledged the girl's statement but added, "That may not always be true, the planning doesn't have to be good, in fact, an unplanned murderer could get away with a murder when a premeditated crime might be caught. It all depends on the person. For instance if the perpetrator was a serial killer then they would have experience with covering their tracks, while an average Joe might know next to nothing about staying low in the system. Does anyone know what the disadvantage of being a serial killer is for getting caught?"

Pyrrha, as always the smart one, raised her arm, more used to the class and having already studied ahead in the book. The professor called on her and she spoke, "A serial killer's weakness is the same as his advantage. Since he or she has committed many crimes there are more clues for the police and us to follow to find the perpetrator and bring them to justice." 

Proffessor Kasai paced in front of the students, he glanced at Ruby and grinned at her blushing face, she hid her face in her arms when she realized he was watching her, "Correct Ms. Nikos, there is one more reason, does anyone know," he glanced around the room and Blake raised her head to look at him, "Ms. Belladonna?"

"I don't know.... 'Sensei'," her words were laced with sarcasm, Kasai raised an eyebrow underneath his mask, her attitude was new.

"How about you Ms. Rose, I haven't heard you contribute all class. Do you know the other reason serial killers are caught?"

Ruby head jerked up off her desk and she glared at the teacher in front of her, "They get too cocky, they don't expect to be caught," she glanced pointedly at the criminal standing at the front of the class.

"Surprisingly... correct. When a criminal, serial killer or not, becomes complacent, that is when you knock them off their feet and kick them while they are down..."

The bell rang abruptly, stopping the gruesome teacher from going into more detail, Ruby started packing up her stuff, however the masked professor quickly ushered the other students out of the room. Yang winked at Ruby as she passed and Ruby blushed scarlet, blood heating up the skin on her face. When the students had left the room and little Red was the only one who remained, Roman approached her desk, the mask still glinting in the florescent light. The girl pulled her hood up and hid inside the folds of fabric. Finally Torchwick removed the constricting mask and stared at Ruby hiding in her cloak for a few seconds. Unaware of his unwavering gaze, Ruby peeked out of the rose hood and glanced upward at the man's face. "Do you still hate me little Red? After all we've been through," he finally spoke and Ruby jumped at his words.

"N-no. I d-don't hate you," the Rose girl stuttered, then paused, thinking of what she wanted to say next.

"Why did you do that?!" she blurted, and Roman leaned closer on the desk.

"Do what?" he asked.

Her stutter returned and she turned away to hide the blush forming on her face, "Y-you k-k-ki-kissed me."

Roman's grin widened and his pearly teeth shone, "Yes I did."

"Why?" her face was still turned away from his and her neck was a brilliant red, as was her face.

"Do you know why people kiss Red, or are you still to young, hmm?"

Ruby's face whipped back, her eyebrows narrowed, "Of course I do!"

Torchwick's face was now mere inches away from the huntress in training's. Finally it dawned on her what Roman was hinting at, plus the closeness of his face, "then that's the reason."

The girl looked terrified when she heard the words coming from his mouth and froze in fear, it wasn't possible that he liked her, right? He was a con man, so it was a trick, yeah? He was a criminal, so there was no way that he was telling the truth, correct? Ruby knew this and yet her heart still beat like a hoard of elephants running to a stream of water, like an African drum, a tune thrumming in her ears. Ruby wasn't stupid. She had listened to enough of her friend's crushes to know what this was. But that wasn't possible. He was a criminal. And her teacher. And she hated him, didn't she?

The criminal pulled away, satisfied with the result his words has on the fifteen year old, he placed the discarded mask back on his face and prepared for the next class he taught while Ruby sat still in her chair. Her face kept changing expressions and she looked uncertain of her next actions, or even of her current mental state. She jerked out of her stupor in about a minute, after Torchwick had left the room to retrieve a few printouts for the next class.

-It's been a while since we've had a time skip, so here it is-

Torchwick really didn't think that Red would come to guard his room overnight, as she had been doing the past few weeks. This morning, when he had woken and remembered his actions, he felt that he might have over done it a bit and that the girl would be scared away. Then, when he saw her sitting quietly in his classroom he couldn't help himself, especially after seeing that adorable blush of her's. Then she had asked that stupid question and he had answered without thinking. It was becoming a habit, a bad one, responding to the girl without thinking. Answering truthfully. In this instance, thankfully, the answer he gave might have been the words he would have used, honest or not. Therefore, when Ruby climbed through the window shortly after 10 o'clock, Roman was completely unprepared for her. His face remained grinning though, even if his nerves were buzzing uncontrollably, "Still feel the need to 'guard' me Red. I thought we determined that we weren't enemies last night. Or do you want to repeat that particular conversation."

Ruby shook her head rapidly but grabbed a pillow off his bed and sat down on the carpeted floor. She leaned on the bed and buried her face in the pillow. Roman raised his eyebrows and sat down next to her, his legs brushed against her's as he lowered himself to the floor. Ruby looked up at the man through her eyelashes, her silver eyes burning into his skull. Memorizing the handsome criminal's face. At long last, she spoke, her voice quiet and muffled as she spoke into the pillow. "Do you really like me? I haven't done anything nice to you at all. Were you lying?"

The orange haired man took a deep breath, about to tell the girl, either a lie or maybe possibly the truth. No one will ever know what he was going to say that night. The night it all changed. Only the criminal knew the words that would come out of his mouth, for right as he went to answer Ruby's quiet question a shudder went through the dormitory and a loud crash was heard in the distance. The building shook once again and melting platings plunged from the windows to cover the sources of light. Another fell over the door, cutting off any chance of escape. The lights flickered out leaving the two people in complete and utter, total, resounding darkness.


	13. Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has litterally no Rosewick, it is all Blake x Adam, if that bothers you, just don't read this chapter, XD

4 weeks prior (the day Ruby broke Roman out of jail); Blake POV

Ruby wasn't in class again today. I'd say that we missed her but it truly was more calm without her. I look down at my notes, words scribbled down in haste at the Professor's words. Obviously my leader's frequent absence worries me, where would she be going that she is excused from classes the rest of us half to take. Professor Ozpin told us she was taking a special class for team leaders, I asked Jaune though and he says that Ruby isn't attending that particular class sometimes. I know that as a team, we shouldn't keep secrets from one another, but as someone who has had secrets of their own, I respect my leader's need for privacy in some aspects. I hear a commotion next to me and see Yang stand up, her hair flying wildly behind her. I guess it is just as loud without Ruby here. "You think that pancakes are better than waffles! What is wrong with your head?" Yang interrupted Oobleck and stood to face Nora.

Nora laughed loudly and shot out of her chair, "Oh really? Want to fight over it?"

The ginger grinned, "How about the one who loses has to eat the winner's choice for a week, deal?" Yang challenged the Valkyrie.

"Deal!" at that I watched as Nora launched herself at my partner.

I will not interfere, since I don't really care which one wins, although Yang will complain for the whole week if she has to eat pancakes for that long. I shrug and go back to taking notes from the board while Oobleck intervenes in the soon violent and destructive fight. Finally the Doctor slams his weapon into both of the girl's sides. "Ms. Xiao Long, Ms. Valkyrie, sit down. I will speak to you and your team after this class," I ignore the commotion my mind wandering, going back to the days before I was in the White Fang.

-flashback- regular pov

Blake cowered as the boot threw her backwards against the wall. The human advanced on her and the 5 year old Blake shut her eyes in fear. Her already blood soaked shirt caked to her skin and she groaned in pain, "Stupid beast, taking precious jobs from us humans. You don't deserve anything, you're not even human. You're just like the Grimm, taking what's not yours."

Blake whimpered, "it hurts, please stop," she begged the men and women whose feet collided with her body.

She screamed. The men laughed. "No one is going to come help you, after all, your life doesn't matter. Not to anyone who counts."

The men continued talking. Blake groaned. Her vision began to go. She only saw darkness. And warmth. So much warmth. She just wanted to sleep. To drift into the darkness. She heard distant voices. Yelling and screams. Then silence. Peace. She felt her body being shaken, maybe she would stay after all. One eye pried open, "Hey! Are you okay? Those humans hurt you a lot. Want me to tell you a story while I bandage you up?"

Blake managed to move her head slightly, "By the way, my name's Adam, I'm a faunas too."

-End Flashback- Blake pov

I shake my head, clearing the memories from my mind as I gather my books and await the Doctor's judgement. Yang and Nora did create quite a mess, I wouldn't be surprised if he gave them detention. I only tune into the conversation long enough to hear him tell the other team and ours the punishment for the disturbance. I am trying to decide which book I want to read later in the day, should I re-read the book about the man with two souls or should I take a chance and read a new book. We go to dinner and I realize that Ruby has yet to return, although the sky has gone dark and the school will soon enforce it's curfew. I follow my partner and Weiss back to our room and go to change into our pajamas, Ruby finally making an appearance after almost half of a day without showing herself. She makes some excuse about where she was and I join the conversation after a bit. Thereafter Ruby tells us that it is time to go to bed. As usual I wait until the others fall asleep to rise and read my book. However on this night, as her breathing calmed she heard Ruby's bed creak as she rose. Cold air seeped into the room and I heard Ruby leave the room, recklessly leaving the window open. I sigh and turn on my desk side lamp, as long as her night outing isn't harming either herself or the team I won't tattle on the younger girl. I open the book and my mind leaves the present troubles behind to a fantasy world. Only a few pages into the book a soft tap against the window alerts me to someone outside. A shaped mask stares back at me, two rectangular holes cut near the top to let in the light. I jump in surprise and clench my teeth, Adam. Why is he here? I can't let my team know. They trusted me enough to allow me to remain on the team after they learned about me being in the White Fang, but would they have the same consideration if they knew that I used to be partners with the merciless leader of the White Fang, Adam Taurus. My cat eyes catch the miniscule movement as he motions for me to meet him outside.

Adam POV

I jump down from the window where my darling now lives. Her hair has gotten longer but she looks for the most part the same as the last time I saw her, including that unpleasant bow. Why is she so ashamed of the part of her that makes her unique? The part that makes her different from those humans she hangs around with. For the past year of course I have kept my eye on her. Why should I abandon something that belongs to me? I hear her quiet footsteps against the cobblestones, her lithe body slinking toward me, muscles clenched, surprise evident on her face. Oh how I have missed my love, my darling, my sweet black cat.

Normal POV

Blake approaches Adam with fast quiet footsteps, making sure not to wake anyone. She would probably be expelled if the headmaster heard that the leader of the White Fang was visiting her in the middle of the night. Before she had come down to the courtyard she had retrieved Gambol Shroud from her weapons locker and held it in her hands, her fingers on the triggers, ready to fire at any sign of trouble. Adam's hand also gripped his weapon, but after some thought he released the hilt of his sword and smiled, "It has been a while my darling."

The black haired girl's hands trembled, her mind flashing back to the last time she saw this man. The only man she had loved. "Why are you here?" her voice shook almost as much as her hands but she kept Gambol Shroud aimed directly at her former leader.

"I wanted to see you my love. I see that you still wear that bow. Are you ashamed of who you are? Why do you cover the part that makes you different?"

"It is none of your business, I am no longer under your control."

"So you abandon me, and become buddies with the Schnee girl hmm? Have you any pride my love?"

Blake clenched her teeth and took a step backwards, she was about to leave but his voice stopped her, "Did you forgot the promise I made when you left me?"

Her eyes shut and she tried to forgot his quiet call as she sped away on the speeding train, his words still echoed in her mind after the whole year, 'I will make you mine Blake, it's a promise.' Blake turned her head slowly, "No I remember."

Before she could move Adam was by her side, slapping the weapon out of her hands, he leaned in to whisper, "It's time I fulfilled it."

He leaned in and pressed his lips against her, he tasted of gunpowder and earth, of the forests outside the kingdoms. Blake was so surprised by the sudden movement she opened her mouth in surprise enough to let him slip his tongue into her small mouth. Her eyes widened and Adam grinned against her lips, finally pulling away and smiling at the flustered faunas. She sank to her knees, cursing herself for enjoying the kiss. When she looked up again the man was gone and in his place was a single midnight hollyhock.


	14. Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, both my editor and I have school work and I just have not been in a writing groove lately. The next chapter after this one might take as long as a month to come out so don't expect too much, however, I am really excited to see what happens next in this story and hope you guys continue reading.   
> Gravity_Piglet Out :3

Present - Normal POV

Ruby stood up from the floor, immediately forgetting the conversation she had been having only a second ago with the criminal whom still lounged on the floor. She zoomed over to the windows and door trying to look out and see anything, wanting to know what was going on at the school. Her eyes had quickly adjusted to the minor light, although probably not as much as Blake's could have. Torchwick sat with his back against the bed, his eyes closed. Ruby approached him, wondering aloud, "Why does your room have those things over the door and windows?"

Roman looked up, his eyes not quite adjusted, "In return for giving Ozpin information about my former boss I made him promise to protect me if anything involving them happened in the city," he gestured to the door and the windows, "Therefore, this."

The teen's eyes widened and she flew to the window and began pounding on the hard metal, "If there is trouble I have to get out there and help my team. I have to fight the bad guys, I can't let anyone I love die again!"

By this time Ruby had removed Crescent Rose from it's spot on the girl's belt, the weapon unfolded and stretched into the full size, she began haphazardly hacking at the covers, the sharp blade barely leaving a scratch. Ruby continued hacking at the metal until her labored breaths were the only sound in the enclosed space. A large hand grabbed her arm as she raised the scythe so swing another useless strike against the seemingly indestructible metal. The red haired girl looked up to see Roman's unblinking face staring at her, "Red, you better stop. There is no way you can get through that, even with that overgrown garden tool."

She struggled against his hold, and growled, trying to force her way out of his grasp to continue the pointless task, "Red! Just stop trying! The world doesn't want your help," his voice lowered and he mumbled, "I learned that the hard way." (for more information or lines like this one see my fanfiction A Lesser Man, a peek into the Psyche of our favorite criminal, Roman Torchwick.)

Still the Rose girl struggled against his hold, not even hearing his words in her rush to go and help her friends. Finally Roman used his last tactic, he twisted Ruby toward him and his voice turned cold, "Ruby! Stop."

4 weeks prior: Normal POV

When Blake had returned to the team's room, Ruby had returned and was sleeping soundly in her haphazardly put together bunkbed. The team leader breathed deeply and Blake stared at the girl in front of her, she had no right to pull this innocent girl into her problems, she didn't want to bring trouble to this group of friends. So Blake climbed back into her bed and curled in on herself, drifting into the darkness until the morning.

The faunus girl was up with the sunrise, as she was every morning. Her golden eyes blinked blearily as she stepped into the shower, she had noticed that Ruby was still asleep, which was unusual, since the team leader liked to rise before the rest of the team. Blake smiled a little, obviously the girl wasn't used to staying up late. She quietly left the room to go to the communal showers, and as she stood cleaning her black hair she heard the familiar voice of Nora echo throughout the room. Since both of the girls were early risers, they had become somewhat close by talking in the shower. Nora had confided that she did in fact like Ren and Blake had explained her past to the hyper girl. Since Nora was the only one who knew about her past, including Adam, she was thinking of telling her of the man's sudden visit the night before. As Nora stepped into the shower she rambled on and Blake caught something about there being an assembly today, but before she knew it she had finished her shower and had forgotten to tell her friend of her troubles. When she returned to the room Weiss and Yang were trying to wake Ruby from her slumber, Blake informed the other girls of the assembly. Yang dressed quickly and stood to follow Blake to the cafeteria, her footsteps thudding against the carpeted floor. After Blake and Yang had finished eating their food, Weiss came running after an extremely rushed Ruby. Professor Goodwitch had just started releasing teams to enter the auditorium to hear the announcement and team RWBY was one of the first called to enter the auditorium.

After hearing the announcement and vacating the auditorium to their classes the day passed quickly except for Blake's unease at the mask of the new teacher. After that, the classes zoomed past and Blake found herself wondering if Adam would once again visit her in the night. She chastened herself and went back to reading in the library. Her ears picked up the voices of her teammates as they interrogated their leader, Blake knew that sometimes you do need to keep secrets so she defended her leader, saying, "Look guys, I'm sure Ruby's just stressed. I mean we have been having a lot of school work lately."

Blake went back to reading her book and eventually the team agreed that it was time to hit the hay, Ruby convinced them to let her stay to finish her essay for the new teacher's class. The black haired faunus changed into her pajamas and lay on her bed, her shoulders stiff with stress. She wasn't surprised, when late into the night she heard soft tapping against the window. The two other girls didn't wake, their human ears not catching the subtle noise. As Blake slipped out of the room she noticed the still missing form of her leader, but chose to ignore it for the moment, as she had more pressing concerns, mainly the now nightly appearance of the leader of the White Fang.

Adam stood with his back to Blake as she approached, staring at the statue in the center of the plaza. He didn't even turn to her when her heels clicked against the pavement. She started when Adam spoke after his long silence, "Isn't it funny how it is only humans they depict."

The cat faunus ignored his words, "What do you want Adam?"

He turned his head to look at her, "I wanted to see you of course, my darling."

"That is not my name! Why do you never call me by name?" for some reason the pet name bothered her greatly today.

Blake's teeth clenched against each other and she whipped her head to look at her old partner, she slammed her fists against his chest which didn't seem to bother him at all, "Why?" she asked again and her shoulders slumped forward.

Adam grabbed her fists in his hands, his hands dwarfing her's. He brought his face close to her's and Blake tried to pull back but to no avail, she was trapped in his muscled arms. His lips brushed against her ear, "Blake, I didn't know you cared."

Her eyes squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get the feeling of his warm breath to go away, the sound of his voice as he tenderly said her name. "Adam," her voice was full of warning.

"What?" he asked innocently as his mouth moved to her jaw and he left small kisses on her skin, "I thought you wanted me to call you by your name, Blake."

Her voice came out in a whine, and she was ashamed that her body was reacting like this to someone she was supposed to hate, "Stop."

Adam chuckled and released her from his grasp, and although she had been the one to tell him to stop, when he pulled away she was left wanting more. He grinned as her eyes continued to be screwed shut and she fell to her knees. The next time she heard him, his voice was more distant, "You know what will happen if you tell any of your little 'friends' about these visits don't you."

She finally opened her eyes and saw a torn rose scattered on the ground before her, she looked up but the man was already gone.

-

When Blake awoke the next morning she found that her leader had not yet returned to her bed, worried that she might have gotten into some deep crap she resolved to confront her about it when she found a time when the others weren't around. She only hoped that she wasn't the one who needed help, instead of her leader. After all, when Adam said her name, her heart had beat faster than its normal slow pace.


	15. Rendvous

Present- Normal POV

Ruby's hands froze and she turned her eyes up to Roman's face, while he looked away from her probing gaze. His arms were still locked around her from when the huntress in training had struggled against his fierce hold. Now though, she had relaxed into his warm appendages and tried to ignore the growing heat on her face, she whimpered, "Did you... say my name?"

His head was still turned away from the questioning girl, so that she wouldn't see the light pink glow of his cheeks, he cleared his throat then went to release the girl, he seemed to think better of the idea and kept his arms locked tightly around the Rose. Once again he cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the feelings welling up in his chest, "You were going to hurt yourself so..."

The girl's small hands reached up and pivoted the criminal's face so that they stared into the opposing person's eyes, Ruby's silver ones and Roman's striking green eye. Ruby smiled gently, the first of such an expression directed at Torchwick, "Thank you," the criminal's hands had relaxed as soon as the girl touched his face and he no longer gripped the girl's waist, "but I have to help my friends."

She turned and was about to leave the security of Romans arms when his hand lashed out and grabbed her own. She looked back at the man, wondering what he was doing, his fingers brushing against her own. His head was down and Ruby couldn't see the expression on his face. His orange hair fell over his face, covering both eyes, when he spoke, his voice was almost a whisper. Ruby had to strain her ears to hear the words, "Stop.... It's no use."

Ruby moved closer to him and raised the hair out of the way so that she could see his face. She pulled back in surprise when she saw the grin on his face. Her eyes went wide and she backed up, his hand still latched to her's. "Little Red, Little Red. You're never going to break through that metal with such a flimsy garden tool," he chuckled and stepped closer to the girl, his steps making her pull backwards even more, afraid of his cruel gaze, "Little Red says she needs to save her friends!" he laughed again, "Do you doubt your team? They have the same training you do! More so in fact, little Red. Isn't doubting the same as not trusting? And we are both used to people not trusting us, right? Because, you weren't told. No!" he shouted, then sighed and released her arm, "and neither was I."

Roman slumped onto his bed, his arms thrown over his eyes, mumbling something about having a headache. Ruby stood in shock off to the side, her eyes still trained on the criminal. As she sank into the soft mattress next to him, Roman grunted in surprise, assuming the girl would have stayed away from him. She silently fiddled with the hem of her skirt and then finally spoke so quietly Torchwick had to strain his ears to hear what she said. "I don't know why, but you are so different from anyone else I have known."

Roman interrupted her, his arm still sprawled across his eyes, "Are you sure that doesn't have anything to do with me being a criminal?"

The girl ignored him, "You're reckless, vulgar, don't respect boundaries and you're a bad guy. But I also think that you are kind, a good teacher, and self sacrificing," she had a small smile on her face, "You are brave, and strong."

He let out a short burst of sarcastic laughter and she turned to glare at him, "And I have no idea why I love you!"

Finally Roman sat up and stared at Ruby, he had moved with thinking, "Oh really?"

His hand hand darted out and snatched Ruby's wrist in his, pulling her closer, he towered over her and his other hand brushed her face. Roman lowered his face to her ear and nibbled on the soft flesh, "Even if I do this?"

He looked over at the girl's face, and her eye's were wide, her lips parted slightly in surprise, he sighed, "Oh what a wonderful day this is."

Before she could register the sarcastic remark, Torchwick's lips met Ruby's in heated passion. Their breath mingled and Ruby's eyes got even wider, her face turning pink. He pushed her down so that she was lying on her back and she felt his cold fingers against her leg, slowly traveling up.... The door burst open, disturbing the two people. Ruby jumped away from the orange haired criminal and stood quickly, smoothing her hair and clothes. Roman slowly stood a glanced at the doorway, only moderately surprised to see the faunas girl pointing her weapons at him. "It looks you did tell someone about our little rendezvous. How wonderful!" his voice said that it was anything but.

"Hello kitty cat" he smiled at the weapon clad girl.

She grinned grimly back, "Hello Torchwick." She clenched her teeth, "I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

Torchwick chuckled and was about to speak when Ruby interceded him, "What happened Blake? Is everyone okay?"

She nodded tersely, "Everyone is fighting down in the courtyard, we have to hurry if we want to make it."

Ruby snatched her scythe from the ground, where she had dropped it and threw Torchwick's mask to him, his grin startling her. They ran after Blake and down the halls, Torchwick matching his steps with the red haired girl, "Are you mad because we didn't get to continue," he murmured.

Ruby's face flared up, "Shut up!"

When the odd trio exited and began jogging toward the chaos they heard another commotion to the right. Blake turned, she clenched her teeth, "White Fang! You guys go on ahead, I'll take this."

Her shoes clicked against the stones as she ran to see what White Fang brother was disturbing the peace at their beautiful school. She skidded to a stop and stared in fear at the figure plunging their sword through the soldiers gut. Her lip quivered and she took a step back, "No. Adam."

He turned to face the faunas huntress a smirk stretching across his face, "Hello my darling."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I am so stuck right now! I know what the next chapter is going to be but what is going to happen after that. Ughhh, I have no idea. On another note, it has been almost a year since I started this fanfiction. I may have some sort of celebration on the date but I am super grateful to those of you who have been here from the start. Kudos. You are wonderful.
> 
> Gravity_Piglet Out. :3


	16. On Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I am super proud of how fast I got this chapter out, like wow, this is a first for me. Aaannnyyy way, huzzay for lots of views, you guys are great. I still can barely believe we have come this far, I never thought that I could write so much, but I did and here is it. I hope you have been enjoying the story thus far and continue to do so.

Ruby and Roman sprinted side by side until they reached the courtyard, once there Ruby blasted herself into a Grimm easily slicing off its head and turning to help her friends defeat the paladins. Weiss glanced back and saw Roman standing off to the side, "Professor Kasai! Please help!"

Due to his lack of weapon, Kasai reached down and wrenched a gun free of one of the defeated soldier's hands. The weapon was not what he was used to, but he had trained in the use of multiple different weapons. His fingers found the trigger and he joined his students in blasting the large paladins. Ruby zoomed among the other students, swinging Crescent Rose in wide arcs. Before any of the huntsmen were hurt further the machines died down and the only thing left to fight was the many Grimm still roaming the school grounds. The students stood catching their breath, supporting those who were injured. Ren and Nora supporting the other's weight and exhaustion. Weiss bent over with her hands on her knees, her breath ragged and raspy, she could barely speak when Yang jogged up and asked if she had seen Ruby. Instead of wasting her already diminished breath she just pointed to their young leader, who was fighting with a large Beowolf, Kasai handling long distance and backing her up. As soon Yang stepped away to run over to Ruby, the ice queen went back to her labored breathing, trying desperately to regain her stamina in case more Grimm attacked.

2 hours earlier

Yang was in a panic. The city was being attacked by Grimm. And the White Fang. And inexplicably, the Atlas military androids and paladins. And worst of all... no one seemed to know where her baby sister was. Only twenty minutes earlier she had woken to fierce shaking of the school. SHe had flown out of her bed as soon as the shaking ceased, her bracelets locked and loaded onto the enemy she had yet to defeat. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, noting the missing forms of Blake and Ruby and their undisturbed beds. Weiss was standing with her sword raised in front of Yang, her stance perfect, as always. "What happened?" Weiss asked the blonde brawler in front of her.

Yang clenched her teeth, "More importantly, where is my sister and partner?"

"Yang... They can take care of themselves. Ruby was made the team leader for a reason."

"Yeah, but she also my little sister, I'm going to find them. You find out what's going on. We'll meet up in 2 hours!"

The muscled girl launched herself out the window, her blond hair trailing after her. Weiss sighed and allowed the girl to go, knowing there was nothing that was able to stop Yang when she had her mind set on something.

Yang sprinted down the halls screaming out Ruby's name, she ignored the other students, those who were running toward the commotion and not away from it. She skidded to a stop and turned her head sharply, scanning the area for any trace of the faunas or her team leader, in the distance ships crashed, and Grimm screamed. The smell of gunpowder was stagnant in the air, and a constant sound of guns reached her ears. Clenching her teeth, the blond leapt forward, sprinting to the abandoned warehouse where she kept her motorcycle. Determining it would take too long to wait for the door to open, she slammed her fists into the retractable metal door, sending it flying backwards. Yang blew her hair out of her face and ran to get her bike, starting it up and hopping on in one swift motion. As she revved the engine and went shooting toward the door she saw the female form just in time to skid to a stop. Blake stood in front of the vehicle and immediately Yang jumped of the seat and swung Blake into a hug. "Oh thank goodness! We had no idea where you and Ruby were! Wait... Ruby isn't with you?!"

The faunas pulled out of Yang's grasp, "I know where Ruby is, I'll go get her. Do you still know that 'friend' you asked for help when we were chasing Torchwick."

"Yeah, I still know him, but I'm not leaving you to get Ruby, she's my sister. Just tell me where to find her and I'll get her."

Blake shook her head vigorously, "No, you need to ask that 'friend ' of your's what the hell is going on, I'll make sure Ruby is safe, I promise."

"Fine," Yang muttered, "But you need to tell me where she is, otherwise I refuse to go."

The black haired girl looked down in shame, "Uhh, well... she'd probably with Professor Kasai, in his room."

Yang's face remained blank, "Thanks for telling me," she smiled softly and hopped on her bike again, swerving to avoid Blake's lithe form.

As she sped away from her partner thoughts sped through her mind, many emotions crossed her face, her hair lighting up occasionally. Hurt, anger, pride, protectiveness, however, she settled on one crystal clear thought, it's defined edges tugging at her consciousness, a faint growing suspicion in the pit of her heart.

2 hours later

Yang slammed into Ruby seizing her little sister until the girl couldn't breathe, she glanced at the masked man next to her and her hair lit, a fire blazing in anger. "I hear my sister was in your bedroom," your voice was blistering as she stepped away from her sister and cracked her knuckles.

The blonde pulled the teacher close to her chest and looked up at his hidden eyes, "If you hurt my sister, I will kill you. Got it?"

Kasai gulped and nodded, Yang stepped back and punched his arm lightly, her hair slowly cooling and resting on her back. A perverted smile graced her features, "Nice job though! I could never get her to like any boys. She could only see her weapon."

Yang laughed and turned to face Ruby, "Hey! Where's Blake?"

Ruby grimaced at her sister, still recovering from the killer hug and oblivious to the conversation that had just happened between Kasai and her sister, "She went after some White Fang."

Yang just glanced down at her sister, "You look after Weiss, I'll meet up with Blake."

She jogged away from the Professor and her little sister, worrying over her partner. She glanced into one of the burning buildings, seeing Blake on the ground, rubble surrounding her and her weapon lying out of her grasp. The man standing over her had a long red sword and before she could do anything he drove the weapon into her partner's gut. Immediately her hair flamed up and her eyes blazed in anger, "GET AWAY FROM HER!!!"


	17. Pain

Chapter 17_ Pain

Ruby awoke in an unfamiliar place. Smooth silk sheets draped over her still form, a thick quilt laying on top of the orange sheets. Her eyes pried open and she glanced around the room, sparse decorations dotted the walls, a dresser leaned against the wall in front of the bed with a picture resting on the top of the wooden armoire. The scent of tobacco and grime reached her nose and Ruby was confused since the room was so expensively decorated, why it smelled like the back streets of Vale. Filled with crime and dirty dealings. She rolled over only to find another warm body blocking her path. The bed dipped against the weight of the other person. The first thing she noticed was the orange hair draped onto the bed and immediately knew who the other person was. Her breath hitched in her throat and and pain exploded through her limbs, tears almost welled up in her eyes but she held back the onslaught of salt water. Ruby could feel her aura slowly healing her wounds, but it wasn't fast enough. She clenched her teeth, to keep herself from crying out in pain. Torchwick shifted in the bed and exposed his bare back to her, purple bruises mottling his scarred skin. She slowly stretched her hand to reach out, wincing in pain with every subtle movement. She brushed her small fingers against his scar and wounds. Her fingers were feathers against his skin and she did her best not to wake the slumbering man. Slowly she moved her finger up to his hair and ran trembling fingers through his thick locks, admiring the softness of his tangerine hair. She lost all sense of time running her sore digits through his orange mop of hair.

-

Neo stepped into the room she had put Red in earlier, seeing the girl trace the scars on Roman's back. She had no doubt the criminal was awake, even though she was his bodyguard, really he didn't need it, his spacial awareness* was better than even her's. She watched as the girl moved her hands up to Roman's hair and gently brushed through his hair with her white fingers. Neo grinned as she watched Roman visibly relaxed and Red didn't notice the change in his demeanor. She nodded in approval, it had been awhile since Roman had been serious about a relationship, this was good for him. But that didn't mean she couldn't mess with them. She shattered the illusion she had sheltered herself with and stepped up behind Ruby, tapping her shoulder and wordlessly handing her the pate of cookies she had been holding the whole time. Honestly she had been surprised when Roman had called her from a pay phone after Cinder's plan went into action. One of Cinder's minions had told Neo that Roman was dead, killed by the government for having a part in the train incident. She had always suspected they were lying, but with no proof, she continued working with them while investigating. However she was even more surprised when she arrived at one of Roman's apartments only to find an unconscious huntress dying in his arms.

As was her custom she had not trusted Roman when he asked the 20 year old to help treat the girl's wounds. Unfortunately, before she could refuse to help a large grimm attacked them and the trio had to flee inside the apartment.

-Ruby POV-

I jolt when I feel a light touch on my shoulder, trying to jump away from Roman's still form. I turn to look behind me and see the girl that was with Torchwick on other occasions. She is remarkably short but I know that she is a powerful foe, after all she defeated Yang. I raise my aching arms, pain shooting up them as I clench my teeth and get into a defensive position. I feel the bed shift under my and I turn my head to look at Torchwick, who is rising from his spot on the bed. A wild red blush covers my face as I realize he has been awake for the time I was running my tentative fingers through his hair. The girl standing next to me puts a plate of chocolate cookies next to me and flicks some gestures toward Torchwick.

-Normal POV-

"How long is she going to stay here?" Neo signs toward her long time partner.

Roman sighed and stood glancing briefly at the red headed student, "As long as need be," he turned to the huntress, "You'll hurt Neo's feelings if you don't eat those cookies Red."

The pink haired woman flicked her middle finger up at the orange haired criminal as Ruby sat up in the bed. Neo bagan examining the bandages, and although at first Ruby was unsure of if she could trust the older girl she finally consented to let herself be examined by the small criminal. She looked at Roman, "What happened?"

"I found you unconscious, brought you here. Neo's been changing your bandages."

"Wait! What about everyone else!?!" Ruby tried to sit up farther but was stopped by the gentle hands of Neo, telling her it wasn't wise to sit up any further in her injured state.

Roman grinned, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, "I'm pretty sure they evacuated."

Ruby's eyes were panicked, "What about the school? And Vale? Were they able to clear out the grimm?"

Neo glanced at her partner, curious to see how he would reply to the young girl, "Things in Vale are under control," the pink haired woman snorted but continued checking Ruby's bandages.

"Beacon not so much, that giant Grimm Cinder Hell summoned keeps bringing more and more grimm to the school."

"Wait! Cinder? Isn't she one of the participants in the Vytal Festival?"

The orange haired criminal turned to face the injured girl, "Also known as my former boss."

Neo stepped away from Ruby and the girl looked at the cookies, finally feeling the grumbling of her stomach, she slowly reached and grabbed one from the pile on the plate. The strange eyed girl signed to her partner and Roman translated what the woman said to the girl now scarfing down cookies. "She wants to know what happened to you that you got such bad injuries," Roman tilted his head and pulled his shirt on from one of the drawers.

"The last thing I remember I ran up the side of the tower and when I got to the top I," Ruby gasped, "Pyrrha!" she said it more to herself than anyone else."

Roman ignored Ruby's turmoil and snatched his coat off a hook on the wall, "Stay with her Neo, please."

The woman chuckled and grabbed a notepad off the table as Roman left, scribbling a note so that Ruby would know what she was thinking, "YOU’RE RUBBING OFF ON HIM RED, HE HASN'T SAID PLEASE TO ME SINCE WE WERE KIDS" Ruby blushed when she looked at the note, how could she have changed him, it always seemed that she was the only one affected by their talking. She shook her head violently and Neo grinned, picking up the cookie tray and returning it to the kitchen. Ruby's thoughts returned to the events of that day, trying to remember what happened to Pyrrha. She needed to investigate, but she would wait until her wounds were healed enough that she could hold her own in a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *the ability to be aware of oneself in space. It is an organized knowledge of objects in relation to oneself in that given space


	18. Fever Dreams and Hallucinations

Chapter 18: Fever Dreams and Hallucinations

Even though Ruby said that, she was still majorly injured. Pain ebbed into her limbs and she fell into a fitful sleep as Neo returned from her chores. Neopolitan stepped into Roman's room, where Ruby had been staying, carrying a small meal she had prepared for the huntress. She rushed to the sleeping girl, set the tray down and rested a small hand against Ruby's feverous face. Heat radiated from the teenager and Neo snatched her hand back to grab the thermometer off the nightstand. After waiting for a few moments to let the device work the miniature screen flashed 39.4oC (103oF). Neo hissed, Ruby's fever was as high as the fever her sister had when she died. She quickly ran to the kitchen, grabbing an ice pack to help cool the red headed girl. The short woman glanced back at her charge as the girl tossed and turned in discomfort. Face grimacing at some imaginary fear.

Meanwhile- Ruby's POV (Dream 1)

I am standing on a road. Emptiness stretching in two directions. Never ending. There are no towns or villages. There are no people. No airships. Nothing.

My semblance brings me no where. Only more road stretching infinitely on into the distance. I soon exhaust myself and sit, heaving on the hot ground, the sun high above my head. I look up and no clouds can be seen, the sun blinds me and I avert my eyes.

Hours pass, my skin is scorched. I glance up, hoping to see someone walking toward me and I see a small pool of water in the distance. Immediately I use my semblance to race across the sand jumping into ... more sand?

I cry out, my throat cracked and dry, "Help! Help!"

At least I think I am speaking, how can I know for sure without someone to react to me? I lay back on the hot ground and think of cold water and my team. I am alone.

Normal POV

Ruby wakes from her dream and croaks out, "Water?"

Neo promptly brings a tall glass from the cupboard and raises the cup to Ruby's mouth. She hurriedly chugs the liquid and asks for more. After drinking another whole glass of water the feverous girl begins to nod off to sleep but Neo nudges her to eat a little porridge. Ruby's hands tremble as she takes the bowl from the pink haired woman, she looks down into the bowl, her eyes wide as sand spills out of the bowl and fills up her lap. Neo looks at her in concern and puts a cold hand to her forehead once again. The huntress, feeling the coldness against her temple shakes out of her stupor and sees the bowl as it really is. She pushes the bowl back into Neo's hands and pulls the blankets up around her, falling asleep.

Ruby POV (Dream 2)

The walls around me are crumbling. There is a dilapidated bed in the corner and cockroaches skittering around the small cell. I hear a small commotion outside the cells and peak around the corner, seeing a ginger being shoved into the cell. I turn around to retreat to my corner of the cell, but I hear a smooth voice behind me, "So what you in for Red?"

I clenched my teeth and slowly turned on my heel so that I was facing him as best I could, a brilliant smile flashed across my face and I replied to his question, "Murder," I knew my smile was chilling. At another time it might not have been but in this situation, along with those words, the vast smile stretching across my face was in fact very creepy. I had learned since long ago that the many criminals that Ironwood caught were terrified of the actions of a murderer. All throughout Remnant, thieves and conmen ran wild, but murderers were much more rare. I had heard of only two on the whole continent of Vale, an assassin by the name of Black who was murdered by his son, one Mercury Black. The man in the cell grins at me and winks.... wait, what?!

His voice is smooth, "Ooh, a bad girl, who'd you kill?"

I turn away from him and begin stepping back to the corner of the room where I usually stay, "none of your business. I don't even know you."

I hear a little noise and hear the clack of shoes against the floor, I turn to see what had happened and see the man standing in front of my cell, "You could know me though."

My stare is incredulous and I scoff at the orange haired thief in front of me, I take one step forward, the floor opening beneath me and swallowing me into the depths of a deep pit, the last thing I hear is the cackling laugh of the orange haired criminal.

Normal POV

Ruby gasps as she wakes from her dream, sweat dripping down her body and her eyes not seeing. Her fever has yet to break and the windows in the room are wide open, letting in the chilling evening air. Neo enters the room, a pack of Beowolves trailing after her. Ruby jumps from the bed staring at the beasts snarling behind the short woman. She scans the room for her weapon but cannot find Crescent Rose at all. In fear she turns back to look at the Grimm and Neo put cannot see the woman at all. Terrified that she will share the same fate as her caretaker she dives from the second story room, out the window and onto the paved ground. Before she can stand to run further, she looks up to see Roman's face, "All better already Red?"

Ruby fever flares up from the excessive use of her aura and she falls limp, Roman letting out quick curses as he catches the small girl in his arms and brings her up to the door, fumbling for his keys. Stepping into the expensive condo he notices nothing wrong and lays Ruby on the bed she had been sleeping on for the past few days. He turns to Neo, "What happened?"

The pink haired woman signs at her partner, 'She suddenly woke up and started freaking out. She looked like she was looking for something and didn't even acknowledge that I was trying to communicate. What is wrong with that girl? You never did tell me why you of all people had saved a huntress.

Roman's voice bordered on anger, "I said she would be gone in a month didn't I? What happened after she started freaking out?"

Neo glanced down a bit guiltily, feeling bad because she hadn't been able to stop the 15 year old as she jumped out of the window, 'She had a panicked look, then she jumped out of the window before I could stop her.'

The orange haired criminal sighed and spoke to his partner.

Ruby POV (Dream 3)

Yang and Dad walk away from the house and I wave at them, holding a broom with one hand and calling out to them, "Be safe!"

The beginnings of tears well in my eyes and I blink them away, it's not their fault that Yang was the one who became Dad's partner after mom died. According to the laws in Vale only one man and woman can be hunters in any given city, therefore the only way I could ever become a huntress like my mom and Yang was to move far away, but I couldn't do that. Not to Dad, who still has flashbacks of the fight that killed mom. Not to Yang who blames herself for the Grimm that set it's sights on us. So I turn away from their receding figures and begin to sweep the house, cleaning every nook and cranny so that when they come home the house will be spotless and bright. There is not much else I can do for them, I am not a fighter. Yang has tried to teach me in secret but I am just... complete garbage. So I do the only thing I can, cook, clean, and help work the village feilds that my father and sister protect from harm.

After finishing my chore I trek down to the wheat fields, my feet bare, whispering against the soft grass. I greet the others and begin the backbreaking job of pulling weeds throughout the field. The soil caresses my feet and I look up at the sun, about to head back to the others so that we can eat lunch together. From the corner of my eye I see movement and turn to look. Instantly I notice the hulking black form of a Beowolf, streaking toward the village.

In a flash I break into a flat out sprint, ignoring the burning in my lungs and calves, no matter what I have to warn the villagers. I have to tell them of the oncoming danger. I skid to a stop in front of the village and stare in horror as the Beowolf and other Grimm tear apart bodies of innocent humans. The light is covered by a hulking body and I sink to my knees, if only I was a little faster, if only I had the same power my sister had. The same fighting spirit and skill. If only I was faster. But I'm not.

-Real Life-

I wake up, sweat sticking to my body and thick blankets draped over me. A warm body presses against my own, my voice comes out and it seems foreign to my own ears, "Roman!"

He instantly turns to toward me, I feel the tears begin to fall down my cheeks, "I wasn't fast enough."

He cups my cheek in his hand, a kind look in his eye, "You're the fastest person I know Red."

This can't be real. Roman isn't this nice. I remember the previous hallucinations and snuggle closer to the warm body pressed against my own. If it is a hallucination, then that's okay. He strokes my hair and I cry into his chest. His mouth against my hair he murmurs soft reassurances until I fall asleep.

I know that he has to be a hallucination. But I never knew a hallucination to be this warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Hows it been lately? I've been hoping it'll snow where I live, but Im dissapointed because it won't :(. I actaully wrote this because I had the flu recently and I was like, ooooohhh thats a good idea for the new chapter. On another note, I'm going to be making a oneshot a little bit like dream 3 and it will be called, The Girl Who Cried Beowolf. Hope you check it out when I put it up and have a great day. XD
> 
> Gravity_Piglet out.


	19. Worry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woop woop, new chapter finally! OMG it's been so long friends.  
> You could say this chapter is filler, and you'd be right. I only just got back on my feet but I hope to keep up the chapters. ^w^

Chapter 19_ Worry

Ruby yawned as she awoke, finally feeling refreshed as if she had had a good night's sleep. She was alone in the bed and she shrugged, getting up and pulling on her boots and cape. Exiting the room she looked around the rest of the flat. There was little decoration except small paintings dotting the walls, most of the painting were of the sun, sunsets and rises. There was a large screen to watch T.V. and an unassuming beige couch in front of it. Ruby glanced around, noticing three other doors in the room, one she found, led to a room which was painted pink. There were less paintings decorating this room and more posters of popular movies. No one was in that room and she didn't want to pry, even though they were criminals. 

She opened the other door and was greeted with the cheerful atmosphere of the dining room and kitchen. Roman sat at the table, maps spread across it with thumbs tacks stuck into random places. Ruby couldn't make head or tails of it so she shifted her attention to what the other person was doing. She had heard Roman call the girl Neo, and it seemed she could change her appearance. She stood at the oven small hands quickly stirring the pot of... something. She turned to the cutting board and the knife flew across the onion and potatoes, chopping them into small pieces. 

Neo was the first to notice Ruby standing in the doorway. She glanced at Roman, who had yet to notice the girl and began making loud noises, getting a pan down from a high shelf. Roman's voice was on edge when he looked up from his papers, "Would you mind Neo, I'm trying to figure out how..." his voice trailed off as he noticed Neopolitan's gaze.

His eyes lit upon Ruby and he turned to face the huntress, "Ahh, you're awake, glad to see my cuddles went to a good use."

Ruby's face contorted in confusion, "What are you talking about?" she sat down and looked at the map, studying the intricate paper.

A small dusting of pink fell across his face and Neo laughed, pausing her cooking to slid a scribble a note to Ruby. 'HE WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU,' still smirking she turned to Torchwick and signed, 'Aren't you going to tell her what happened?'

Roman ignored his partner and turned back to Ruby who was looking at the paper in disbelief. The orange haired criminal snatched the paper from the girl and flipped his finger his finger in Neo's direction, "Ignore her, she likes to butt her head in things that don't concern her. Which is a good thing, usually."

He turned to glare at the pink haired woman, however she had turned away and was now busily dumping the vegetables in the pot, while simultaneously cooking some chicken in a skillet on another burner. Ruby wondered about the exchange but turned to Roman, her face set in determination, "I have to find out what is going on."

A sigh escaped Roman's lips, "And what do you expect me to do about that, Red? Pull answers from thin air?"

The redhead pouted and furrowed her brow, "No. But I do want to go back to the school and see who is there."

Fear appeared in Torchwick's eyes for a fraction of a second, then he began laughing, "Do you have any idea how many Grimm are crawling over your precious school, whatever you did froze that huge Grimm on top of the school, but more and more Grimm invade the school day after day."

Anger flashed through Ruby's glass eyes and she stood from the table, her chair clattering to the floor, she opened her mouth to reply to the man but she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Neo stood behind her with a kind smile on her face. She lifted the chair from the floor and pushed Ruby down, placing a bowl of stew in front of her. After which she signed to Roman and he gave the woman the slip of paper he had confiscated from Ruby. She placed the paper next to the bowl of stew, Ruby looked up in confusion, "You were, worried... about me?"

Neopolitan chuckled again and gestured toward the bowl, showing Ruby that she should eat. Then she turned to Roman and signed, 'I'm leaving, and when I come back she better not be mad at you. Also, if you make out on the couch or do anything else like that, I am not cleaning it up.'

As she turned to grab her umbrella from the coat rack, she grinned and winked at Roman. His voice was loud, but only moderately pissed, "NEO!!"

The woman covered her mouth with her free hand and chuckled, then vanished. Leaving the two people in the apartment alone, the tension so thick it made the air hard to breath. Ruby was the first to speak, "Soooo, was she telling the truth?"

He clenched his teeth, then relaxed, "Absolutely," he rolled his eyes, accenting that the words coming out of his mouth were but pure sarcasm.

Ruby narrowed her eyes, "Are you being sarcastic?"

Roman raised his hands in the air in disbelief, "Yes!"

Her eyes stayed narrowed, "What about now?"

A gloved hand flew to facepalm and he sighed, "It doesn't matter, just eat your soup. Neo thought it would help you get over your fever."

The red haired girl continued staring at the criminal for a few seconds, unsure if she should trust him. However, at some point she determined that Neo was telling the truth, shrugging and turning her attention to the hearty stew in front of her. Torchwick never did like showing his real emotions, he preferred to react to the world with sarcasm and disdain, much like a teenager. Ruby laughed on the inside and gulped down the food, only just realizing how hungry she had been. Having a semblance like speed needed a lot of energy. And even if he wasn't worried about her, that was fine too, 'Because I can take care of myself,' the red haired huntress thoughts echoed inside her head as the hot liquid slid down her throat.


	20. Plastic Soldiers and Pawns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends!
> 
> Since it has been finals week, and the end of the semester I haven't been able to write at all and I am super excited to get started again. I want to thank everybody who commented in the past month, since I last updated at least. I was laughing so hard when I wrote this though. I made a reference to an awesome youtube show I Iove, and ---- OMG... YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT!!! RIGHT NOW!!! GO TO YOUTUBE!! Do not read this until you have watched it all! It is called Baman and Piderman (and yes it is spelled that way) and it is the most hilarious and amazing short serious I have seen. ---- Oh goodness, I didn't mean to freak out like that... anyway.... hope you enjoy the new chapter.
> 
> *bows* Gravity Piglet Out!

The city was in ruins, building cobbled across the street. The school even worse, torn apart and bleeding like a dead animal left to the carrion. Grimm prowled what used to be inhabited halls and the shadow of a dragon Grimm loomed over all. The once life filled school now stood in desolate silence, a sad remnant of what it used to be. People stopped to stare at the school in the distance, fear ebbing its way into their hearts. If the huntsmen couldn't protect their own school, how were they supposed to protect the rest of the world? Beacon tower and its frozen dweller loomed over the city and continually reminded of the words that strange woman had said the day it had all fallen,

"This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians. But are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our academy's headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell a difference. And, what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students, first a dismemberment and now this? Huntsmen and huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither."

She went on for quite a time but the thing that most stood out to the people of Remnant, everyone watching the broadcast was when she said, "So I ask you, who do you think you can trust?"

The woman, although suspicious, made good points, when those in power never told the citizens anything, how were they to trust them? How were they to put their faith in something they didn't even understand. And this darkness, the constant pressure of the Grimm at their borders wasn't helping. The school, which used to be a sign of protection, now stood as a silent predator in the distance. The ear piercing screech of a nevermore shattered the silence, but a sudden gunshot cut the sound off and the large Grimm tumbled from the sky, its scream dying in its throat. Three figures once again began their trek once the dark beast was defeated.

"How did you do that?" Ruby's voice was small in the abandoned area as Roman lowered his cane and sauntered in front of her.

Their short friend was silent as Roman answered but she let out a derisive chuckle at his words, "Whatever do you mean?"

The red haired girl got straight to the point, "You killed that Nevermore with one shot, how come you never did that with us."

"In case you didn't notice, Red, you and your little friends love to dodge the bullets I so kindly send toward you," he paused, "and, I don't particularly like shoving my semblance into people's faces, as you and your team do."

Ruby jogged to catch up with him, "So what is your semblance?"

Roman sighed, "What makes you think I'll tell you, little Red?"

"Cause I'm trustworthy, "she turned her head to him and smiled, "after all, I haven't even told anyone that I'm staying with criminals."

Roman scoffed, "Fine, it's a bit complicated but..."

The tip of Neo's umbrella tapped Roman's shoulder and she inclined her head, telling him to look ahead of him. The cracked sidewalk had finally led the trio to the ruins of the school, the Grimm wandering between the fallen buildings and prowling under the statue of their leader. Roman grit his teeth, why had he come here again? Of course he was coerced into trekking all the way back to the rubble of his old workplace to track down potential survivors, "because no one else would" as Ruby put it. He didn't even know why Neo was on board with it, he assumed just to make him uncomfortable. The girls put him on watch and began searching the Grimm infested hallways for signs of human life. Roman sighed, he had actually enjoyed his temporary job at the school, far less stress, as far as he was concerned, compared to planning heists. Plus there was always the upside of teasing Red. The only thing he didn't like was his lack of information, that though wasn't a change from his old employment, working under Cinder. A loud shout interrupted Roman from his thoughts and brought him back to reality. He could barely hear Ruby's voice shouting for help from the other side of the campus but eventually made his way over to her.

The first hint that there was life was the almost imperceptible movement of the gears that were sprawled across the sidewalk in front of the tower. The area had originally been infested by lower tear Grimm, as it was close to the location of their king. Ruby had quickly culled the group of savage animals, but knew that the peace would last for only a matter of minutes. Shouting a need for help she began attempting to move the huge gears that covered whomever was still alive down there. The first person to arrive and help her was the person she still couldn't fathom her feelings toward. Roman stepped up to the gear and silently began lifting the broken pieces of machinery that she could not even move an inch. "Need help Red?" he purred when she tried to lift a piece that was far to large.

In no time they had released the man that both of them knew very well, "Professor Ozpin!" was Ruby's surprised reaction.

Torchwick only let a gruff, "Headbastard."

Ozpin nodded to Ruby, "Ms. Rose, Torchwick, I suggest we get to a secure location. The Grimm are not going to hold off forever."

The red haired girl smiled at her headmaster and began walking back to the apartment she had been staying in with the two criminals, chattering to the man the whole way. Roman quickly let out three quick whistles, letting Neo know they were returning to the apartment and to meet them there, in disguise.

-Heh heh, and we come back to the time skips-

Roman stood in front of Ozpin as Ruby went to get the man a drink of water, "What is going on? What is Cinder up to and why was the school attacked?"

Ozpin let out a laugh, "You really thought that I would tell you? You're a criminal."

His brow furrowed as he stared at the silver haired man, "But I helped you, I gave you information about Cinderhell and her little minions."

Roman's teeth ground together, "You really think anything you told us wasn't something we didn't already know, you were just a pawn to her. And you will be to anyone who you work for because that if who you are."

While Ozpin was talking Ruby had come back into the room with the glass of water and she threw the water at the man (Ruby is getting some bad habits from Roman, defying her headmaster...naughty...),"Don't say that about Roman, he is actually really strong and he is smart, how else would he have been able to teach our class."

"I'm sorry Ruby, I'm not saying anything against you, but he IS a criminal. I apologize if I've offended you. Ruby, I once told that I have made more mistakes than any man woman and child in the world. But I do not want to believe saving him from the death sentence was one of them."

The door slammed shut as Neo stepped into the main room, her eyes going wide at one of the most dangerous men in the world. At least to a person like her. She was glad Roman had told her to change her appearance. The black haired girl clenched her teeth and glared at the man, he just smiled back at her, her appearance making her look like a young girl. "Hello, my name is Professor Ozpin. And who might you be?"

Neo turned to Roman and signed, 'Get him to stop talking to me.'

Immediately Ozpin smiled again, "Oh, I see, you cannot speak. That is alright, I know sign language. Where are your parents?"

Her eyes flashed a angry pink and she bared her teeth, quickly pulling her sword from the umbrella and running it through his body before he could blink. His eyes were open in shock and she could faintly hear Ruby screaming behind her, quickly she lowered her illusion, a wide grin facing Ozpin as his body faded in and out.

Neo sat up in confusion and Ruby stopped yelling long enough to stare in awe at the semi translucent body. Soon enough there was no body to hold up her sword and the thin rapier clattered to the floor. Ruby instantly reacted, "What just happened? Neo, why did you stab Professor Ozpin and then he...?" confusion filled her eyes, her mouth was open and not going to close anytime soon.

Roman sighed, "I told you we shouldn't have gone back to the school."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O, I almost forgot... the one year anniversary of my fanfic will be coming up in about a month, I will be posting a special chapter and some art. I'd love to see you on the 17th of February. Thanks again for all the views and for staying with me even though I kept losing my inspiration.


	21. Scarlet Woman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of backstory

Welcome to the new chapter. Hope you like it...

Ruby paced the floor of the apartment, clenching her teeth, in but a few seconds Roman's temper reached an end and he snapped at the moving girl, "STOP moving! You're going to wear a hole in the floor."

The redhead stopped, "Ah, sorry," she quickly turned to face Roman and Neo who were staring at her while she paced, "What just happened? Why did Neo stab Professor Ozpin. And - and where did he go?"

Neo had retrieved her sword from the floor and stood next her orange haired partner, with a quick flick of her hand she informed him that she was going out, and that it was alright to tell Ruby the reason she had stabbed her beloved headmaster. Roman sighed as Neo snagged her coat, shrugging it over her shoulders and vanishing out the door, probably to relieve her stress by making trouble. The orange haired criminal sat on the couch and Ruby stared at him as he put his feet on the table. He glanced over at the girl, "Do you want to hear the reason Neo stabbed him or not? Because I could think of a few other things we could be doing right now," he grinned suggestively at the short girl and she flopped onto the couch next to him.

"No," she pouted, "Just tell me the story."

He just chuckled and leaned farther back into the couch, "Where should I start?"

"How about the beginning?" Ruby suggested, something dark lurking behind her eyes, her patience wearing thin.

He ran a hand through his hair, "Me and Neo, we met when I was about 8 years old..."

Flashback- Normal POV

A small boy, with striking orange hair darted through the streets, face covered in dirt and pockets full of lien. Not his, mind you, but still lein. The police shoved through the crowded streets in the capital of Mistral chasing what they assumed was a street rat. Not knowing the boy who had been pickpocketing through the street was the son of one of the highest ranking officials in Mistral. Well, not necessarily son, at least not in the public eye, it was more appropriate to call him the bastard of the highest ranking official in Mistral. High Chairman Kasai Yaburn was the most respected man in all of Mistral, even though half of his most treasured associates were criminals and all of his business deals had the stink of bribery to them. He had two legitimate children one little older than Roman at the time and a girl about 3 years of age. Now with such a 'respectable' man, how is it that he ended up with a bastard like Roman. Not that it surprises those who know him, but the man had a reputation of going to the nightclubs, the irreputable kind. Where girls wore scant clothing and draped themselves across men's laps for a bigger paycheck. It is from one of these women that Roman originated. A mar on the 'good' Chairman's name if ever found out.

Roman squeezed into a tight space between two buildings, effectively stopping the police from following his movements. Reaching the end of the cramped hall he was released into a crowd of people, another group of tourists ripe for the picking. After snagging a few more dope's wallets he clamored down into the sewers, getting ready to return to his home. The sewers reeked and Roman crinkled his nose in disgust, shuddering at the smell and inching through the underground streets full of crap, his small body pressed against the wall of the tunnel.

Finally reaching the exit, approximately 2 miles from where he started he exited the tunnel and tried to sneak into his house, preparing to wash the grime off his body before his mother saw him. However, as Roman tried to sneak into the cobbled house his mother's voice echoed from the kitchen, "Roman, is that you? Come in here and I'll give you a snack."

Spark Torchwick stood in the homely kitchen, a pot of stew sitting in front of her and an orange half peeled off to the side. Her red hair flashed brilliantly in the evening light coming from the open window. Her hands were calloused from hard work and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, out of her face. Clenching his teeth, Roman entered the kitchen, knowing the lecture he was going to get about his appearance. "Go and take a bath Roman, you are disgusting!"

He sighed and left the room, his mother continuing to make their dinner. Spark had grown up poor, going to college had put her in deep debt and although she never wanted to she had to resort to selling her body. Those days were behind her now. She worked a reputable job as a seamstress and even though the job didn't pay much she still lived a peaceful life with her son and tried to give him all that he needed. She tried to teach him to be a good person. One of the things she made sure to teach him was how to be a gentleman. The people in Mistral were not always the most accommodating and Spark wanted her son to be set apart. Spark had grown up in Vale, the streets much more peaceful than the crime filled streets here in Mistral and her dream was to move back there. To show her trouble making son that there was a place where people first were kind, that there was no ulterior motives. When Roman returned from his bath they sat down to eat, the soup still hot and filling. The orange haired boy threw the lien on the table, "I got a lot of tips today mum."

Spark raised a hand to cover her mouth, surprised at the amount of money. "Thank you sweetie, but we don't take money out at the dinner table, okay?"

They finished their meal and Spark grabbed the dishes off the table, "I'll wash them today. I got a new scroll game on my scroll game if you want to play it," her smile was kind and Roman ran to get the scroll of the table.

He went into the other room while Spark washed the dishes, the ding of their doorbell surprised both of them and Spark wiped her hands on her apron, telling her son that she would get the door. Roman peeked out of his room, watching his mother open the door. Her voice was slightly muffle by the distance but he could hear her say, "Hello there, what is it?"

"Are you Spark Torchwick?" a man's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Yes, wh..." Her words were interrupted by the loud crack of a gunshot.

She fell backward, revealing a burly man with a gun resting in his palm, Roman's eyes went wide. The man turned to face him, a grin spread across his face. With only a moment of hesitation Roman scrambled toward the kitchen, knowing that in there was knife. The man fired a quick shot, hitting his shin and causing the boy to stumble, the adrenaline kept him going though. The knife was in his hand before the man's slow steps reached the kitchen and Roman plunged the knife deep into the man's gut, "Who sent you?!?" he cried out.

Knowing he was going to die anyway the man answered, "Kasai Yaburn."

The blood was sticky on his hands as he dragged the knife across the man's throat. Roman dropped the knife and crawled over to his mother's still body and she flashed him a sad smile, "You're bleeding sweetie."

Finally the tears spilled over, blurring his vision of his mother, "Yes, mum, I know."

She sighed and he pushed the tears off his face, "I thought I would have more time. I wanted to show you Vale. I wanted to see you fall in love."

A short sad laugh escaped her lips and her hand gripped Roman's tightly, "I love you Roman. I love..."

Roman's knees were covered in scarlet blood, his hand still holding his mother's cold one. The color slowly drained from her body, blood pooling and seeping into both her clothes and Roman's. There he sat for more than half an hour until a neighbor approached, accompanied by a policeman. They gently pried the boy from his mother's corpse, they carried him from the house but the instant his mother was out of his sight it was as if he had woken from a stupor. He began kicking the man carrying him, the pain in his leg and his sorrow letting out an ear piercing scream.

As he recovered in the hospital, the splint and cast put on his leg. As he limped around the streets of Mistral, one thought was clear as crystal in his mind, he would never forgive that man, Kasai Yaburn.


	22. Appearance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> other wise known as Melted Icecream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Beautiful and Gracious Followers I give this chapter to you in celebration of the one year anniversary of this fanfiction. I simply cannot believe that there are 9 thousand views on this! We have come so far both in this fanfiction and in the ship of Rosdewick overall. Starting out on Wattpad and other sites there was barely any fics and now, now there are many beautiful writings that inspire me to write more. I will write more of my thankfulness on the next, extra chapter. Gravity_Piglet out ^w^

Neo stood at the precipice. She and her sister, Vanilla were her family's pride and joy. Their act bringing thousands to see the stunts the acrobats could pull off. Neo's lithe body easily handled the tumbles and turns of being an acrobat. But that was a double sided coin. And while she was great at her job in the circus, her real job was in the family business: crime. Her father was a henchman, often away from home, her mother an art thief. Her sister, the best of them all. A spy going into the huntsman training school to scope out their adversaries. Neo hadn't any idea whether she wanted to do so. Her sister had always been the only one who understand Neopolitan's greed for goodness. For companionship and friendship. Their other siblings often teased the two for their constant whispering, their confiding in each other in a world were telling someone the truth was as harmful as a gunshot and often just as painful. They stuck together, two parts of a whole, almost twins. Vanilla was a classic blond haired beauty, only slightly taller than her short younger sister. She was prepared to go to someplace she would hate, just to continue with her family's prosperity. She only felt bad that Neo would be alone. None of the others understood her. But there was nothing she could do, in only one week a teacher from Beacon would come to test her on her abilities.

Neo was practicing on the high wire, she had to make sure that her performance in the next week's act did not mess up her sister's chance to achieve her place in Beacon academy. A high pitched voice echoed below her and the pink haired girl looked down the height, her vision barely making out the short form of her mother calling Neo from below. Grinning she flipped from the top of the wire. Twisting and turning in the empty space, she landed deftly on her feet in front of her mother. The older woman sighed, "Stop showing off Neopolitan, your sister has a terrible fever she wants you to come see her."

An instant gasp escaped from Neo lips and she sprinted away from her mother, disappearing into the trailer that she and her sister shared. Vanilla lay sweating beneath the cover, shivers racking her body and heaps of blanket piled on her. A wet rag was on her forehead and Neo approached, kneeling next to her older sister Neo grabbed the rag and was not at all surprised to find it was warm to. She dipped it into a bucket of water and wiped the sweat from the blonde’s face. Neo's voice was panicked, "Are you alright?"

The sick girl responded with an affirmative nod, however Neo only got more scared, "Don't lie to me! I can take."

"I feel like crap," Vanilla croaked, the words sour on her tongue, "the doctor said that I might die if the fever doesn’t break soon.”

Neo’s eyes went wide, “No! You can’t die, I won’t allow it. You are going to beat this stupid sickness and show that huntsman from Beacon how awesome the Icecream Sisters are.”

Vanilla let out a short burst of laughter but then grimaced in pain, turning away from her sister and snuggling closer into the blankets. A quiet laugh almost escaped her sister’s mouth, “You’re so stupid Neo.”

With that quiet sentence Vanilla fell into a fitful sleep, Neo stayed with her the next few hours. Changing her sheets, opening the window when the room got overly warm and letting in the chilling night air. Vanilla’s condition worsened more and more as the night wore on. Her fever increasingly raising until her skin was on fire and her face was a brilliant red. Neo washed the sweat from her face, and changed the cold rag as soon as it was no longer cool against Vanilla’s skin. Finally, as the clock in their trailer ticked to 2:30, Vanilla’s life ebbed away and Neo was left with a cooling corpse in the place of her beloved sister.

The next morning their mother found the short girl with red tear marks on her face, face resting on the bed that her now dead sister resided in. The older woman's muscles strained as she picked up her sleeping daughter and moved her to another room laying the tired girl on the quilts and returning to her oldest daughter corpse to prepare for the girl's funeral.

-the time has come for the time skip-

It had been a week since poor Vanilla had passed on, leaving her family to mourn her absence. And yet they could not stop their plans for the death of even one of their family. Therefore, using her semblance, Neo transformed into her sister, copying her down to the last detail. It felt as if she was disrespecting her sister. However there was nothing she could do, she still wanted to go to Beacon after all, and raised in an environment like her's she had been taught to do what she wanted. The teacher had arrived and sat in the special guest seat, his green hair dull and uninteresting. Neo approached him, extending her hand, "Hello, I'm Vanilla Balle, you must be Professor Ozpin."

The man kindly smiled at her, looking her up and down, her lack of weapon and tight fitting clothing making him curious about her sincerity about becoming a huntress, "Ah, it is wonderful to meet you. I should hope you perform well. Beacon is a school only for the most advanced students, it is not simply just a basic combat school."

A sly smile spread across Neo's face, confident that she would not disappoint the man, she never did disappoint.

Her father stood on his ringmaster place, announcing the girl, "The one and only Icecream Girl! She will now walk across the tightrope.... on her hands!"

Neo flipped out onto the stage, twisting and turning as was her custom, she raised an arm and waved as her sister would have done. In only a few seconds she had scaled the ladder up to the thin line of wire. From the audience, it would look as if she was walking on air. Using her palms she balanced on the rope, advancing forward until she reached the center of the line, then she fell down. Grabbing the line and turning around it until she was standing on the wire. That was when she began fighting an invisible enemy. Her kicks were precise and her punches powerful. And yet she balanced on the wire, turning in the air, jumping and twisting and flipping. However, as she dodged an imaginary blow her foot slipped, panicked, Ozpin stood, knowing the fall would kill her. Her father though anticipated this fall, as it was orchestrated and threw a laced parasol up to her. Grinning as she hung by one hand from the wire she looped her legs around the thread and snatched the umbrella from the air. Opening the parasol she dropped from the high wire and landed deftly on the trapeze the seat swaying as she landed. Swinging the trapeze more she pressed the button on the parasol that activated the small knife that protruded from the tip. Twisting and lunging as she jumped on to the other trapeze she tumbled until her knees hooked on the thin wood, swinging purposefully toward the professor. Flipping off the trapeze she landed in front of the man with the full rapier drawn and at his throat. He couldn't pull his eyes away from the flexible girl and she lowered the sword, smiling sweetly at him, "So, what do you think? Think I'm good enough for Beacon?"

It took a moment but a smile eventually appeared on the young teacher's face, "Yeah. I do."

-wow another time skip, I've started using these again haven't I-

Neo was pacing in front of her parents, "You want me to do WHAT?"

"Honey," her mother began, "We aren't asking much of you. We just noticed that he couldn't take his eyes off you the whole time you were performing."

"You mean he couldn't take his eyes off Vanilla."

"We just thought that you could get more information out of him if you have a relationship, and I have no doubt that he will fall for you," her father counseled.

"What are you two thinking? He's like twice my age! Plus he seemed like a nice guy, I'm already going to be spying at Beacon, how much more do you want me to do?"

"Sweety, you remember that your father is almost 20 years older than me. We're not telling you to marry him, just to... have a relationship with him. As well as the fact that you getting information out of him could mean our very lives on our next mission."

Neo sighed, "Gah, fine. Just don't come crying to me when he refuses me from Beacon for being too forward," the girl turned to leave.

Before she could escape her parents however her mother called, "Oh, and Neo. It's alright if you show him your real form, just tell him that Vanilla is your twin."

Grumbling, Neo stomped away, not at all happy with her parents instructions and Sherbet turned to her husband, "I know the look he gave her. It was same look you gave me when you first saw me steal something."

The burly man smiled and gazed lovingly at his wife, "And the look I give you every day."

-what? what just happened? I don't know, but it certainly wasn't planned-

Neo approached the teacher's trailer that her parents had let him borrow for his short stay at the circus. Grabbing a few cakes and a hot pot of coffee from Cook she shifted her appearance back to Vanilla. She knocked on the steel door and within seconds Ozpin stood before her, eyebrows raised in surprise. A shy smile graced her face and she showed him the platter with goodies, "I brought you something to eat."

His voice was gruff, "Do you have tea?"

"No, but I do have coffee."

He let her into the small room and she set the food on the table, snagging cups from the cupboard and setting them gently on the table and pouring coffee into the cups, "How did you know cups were there?"

She flashed him a smile, "This trailer used to be mine and my sister's, we shared because there wasn't enough trailers."

"Used to?" he sat down at the table and sipped the scorching coffee.

Neo's eyes were sad, "She died last week from a terrible fever."

Ozpin was concerned and turned to ask her, "I can see your determination to go to a school for huntsmen. I'm sorry for your loss though."

"Yeah.... I've got something to tell you though, it has to do with my semblance."

"What? Your transcript said that it was undiscovered."

"Well, my sister's was. I have something a bit unique," Neo hair gradually changed back to its original three colored state, her form got shorter and she smiled hesitantly up at Ozpin, "I have the semblance of shape-shifting, please don't tell anyone. My twin sister Vanilla was the one originally going to go to Beacon, my parents don't have enough money to send both of us, so when Vanilla.... I don't want to seem insensitive, but you were already coming and.... I just thought that you were really nice, and you deserved to know the truth."

Ozpin was silent all the while---

The door slammed against the wall as Neo's most used alias stepped through the door, Ruby and Roman both looked back at the woman and she signed to him, he almost lost what she said because of how fast she moved her hands, 'Soldiers are doing a search. You have to get out of here NOW. You should probably take huntress here too. They have her picture and are looking for her. If she catches us we'll be charged with kidnapping.'

Roman pulled Ruby off the couch and grabbed his coat, slipping his shoes on. Neo jumped into the kitchen and began packing food for the two's journey. Ruby looked at the two in confusion, "What's going on?"

"Soldiers are coming Red, they've got your picture and sadly, unlike Neo neither of us can change our appearance. They'll blame me for kidnapping you and you will be sent back to your parents, continually being kept in the dark."

Immediately as Torchwick stopped talking Ruby used her semblance to run to the room and grab her scythe, torn and ragged cloak, and her boots. When she came out to the living room Roman was standing with a backpack on his back and his cane resting in his hand. Neo moved the rug the covered the whole floor and small trap door opened with her gentle and rushed touch. Sliding down into the tight space, Roman helped the Rose girl into the basement like place. The icecream girl motioned a few more times, telling the two to keep it down, although they could speak as the carpet muffled the sound. There was one bench in the dark room and Roman removed a candle from his pack, setting it on the cement floor, and the two settled down to wait.


	23. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Extra drabble chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really am amazingly appreciative of all the followers and readers who continue to read my trash, I am very grateful and hope that you all will continue to read it and love my stories. Please comment any questions you have about me, writing this fic or sterf. This is a special day and I hope you can all celebrate this anniversary with me and help me keep up the good work. Once again, post any questions I will answer them on the next chapter and please if you at any time have any suggestions about this story please tell me. I'm always open to talk. I also love reading any fanfics so if you want me to read something just send me the name of it and I'll look it up. Once again thanks so much for being there and reading this stuff that I started simply because I wanted to read some Rosewick. Actually these two chapter I got out today were nearly impossible to write and edit in time. I had so much to do, in fact just yesterday I had to act in a play and barely had time to write this. I am very grateful that my editor got it to me in time and hope you enjoy this artwork and drabble. It takes place after Worry.

The couch sunk as Roman sat on the soft fabric and Ruby fell closer to him, his weight making the center of the couch heavier. He chuckled at Ruby tumbled into his lap and he grabbed the remote from the side of the couch, flipping the large holo-tv onto a random show. To his surprise Ruby didn't attempt to climb out of his lap only let out a short *huff* and settled down onto his legs. He craned his neck around to look at her face, the blush casting an enticing glow on her skin. A slow smile graced his face and he murmured, “Are you trying to seduce me?”

The blush became even more pronounced and Ruby shook her head violently from left to right, “Are you sure,” his hot breath tickled her ear and she turned to face him.

A small knowing smile spread across his features, he neared Ruby’s face, a hungry predator, “What did I tell you about the sparrow Red?”

Ruby looked down, “That they always get caught in the fox’s trap.”

Roman tilted Ruby’s face to look at him and let out a quick, “yep,” then captured her lips with his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also if you want to see the art that goes along with this go to https://www.wattpad.com/373751148-in-the-dark-rosewick-trash-rwby-together


	24. Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Otherwise known as: She Did

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Gravity_Piglet here. Just wanted to say before I start this chapter that I do not condone murder, violence or killing at all, even for revenge... even for self preservation. Anyway besides that I have a feeling that the next chapter will be the last. This has been a wonderful experience for me and I will write more on it later. Anyway I actually wrote this in Creative Writing class, well... half of it. My teacher told us to work on characterization so if I over characterize Neo just ignore it. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, although the chapter itself almost made me cry. When I wrote it I was crying and the other kids in my class were so confused because I kept telling them that I hated reading tragedies and yet I always write them. Sorry getting emotional here... onto the story.
> 
> Gravity_Piglet out. ^v^

The small hidden basement was cramped, mold growing on the walls and mushrooms thriving on the damp floor. The only inhabitant of the room was an old rotting bench that was skeptical in its durability. Roman sat on the bench, not at all doubtful that it would hold his full weight. Ruby remained standing, dubious of the integrity of the seat. Roman's voice was quiet, "So... where was I? Ah yes, of course. Neo told Ozpin that she wasn't her sister...."

The professor was about to answer the girl, when the trailer shook from an enormous force. The pink haired girl sprinted to the door and flung it open, her eyes widening at the chaos that had erupted. During the conversation with Ozpin she had turned back to her original form, her short and lithe body replacing the image of her sister's taller thinner one. Her eyes had shifted to their natural hue, one pink and one chocolate brown. But now her eyes were widened in fear, the flames blazed in front of her, tents sparking and being engulfed in flames. Before her brain even registered the sight she was darting across the expanse, tripping over her own feet to find her mother and father. Her acute senses pulled in the sound of screaming animals, the lion and elephants had been released in the frenzy and now sizzled in the immense heat. Seeing a man lying on the ground Neo nimbly leapt over his still body, not bothering to check if he was alive. Small voices cried out from the inside of the main tent, her sibling voices. Skidding to a stop she did a summersault and made ready to attempt a rescue. The tent collapsed, burying her two sisters and brother underneath its heavy fabric. Struggling, she lifted only a corner of the tent, allowing one of her sibling out from its heated embrace. Her mother's short figure approached from behind her and her father with his large frame bent to help her lift the tent. "About time," she grunted as her muscles strained against her clothes.

In only a short amount of time they had released the children from their enclosure, all of the family but for Neo's older sister was safe, for the time being. A quick family hug was shared by the family and Neo's father laughed, "And you all were worried that we wouldn't be okay. Goes to show that this family will never be ... gralghhh."

Blood exploded from his mouth and he collapsed on the ground, blood seeping from an open wound on his chest. Behind him stood a bulky man, a blood stained sword resting firmly in his meaty fist and a grin splitting his face, "Oops, didn't see you there," his voice was a landslide, deep and amusement filled.

Neo's eyes were wide and her breathing became rapid, almost hyperventilating she stood stock still as her siblings cowered in fear. Her appearance morphed, havoc filling her features. One second she was an old man, the next a child and the next still a tall glowing maiden. She remained still, her semblance in disarray, her eyes glazed off in the distance. She didn't move even once as the man in front of her slowing picked of her siblings, their feeble attempts to fight causing the killer to chuckle as he slit their frail throats. Only as the man approached her knife wielding mother did Neo's body move. A scream erupted from her mouth, her high pitched voice garnering the man's attention almost immediately. Her transformation had finally stopped yet she still couldn't move. Noise blared in the man's ears and he snapped her mother's neck in only a second, stalking closer to the frozen girl. His eyes were murder and his hands were covered in blood, and Neo kept hearing the sound of her mother's neck snapping, over and over and over. As the man approached her, her screams slowly quieted, her mouth still wide and yet no sound escaped her lips. The man smiled a cruel and hard grin, "Why don't you shut your mouth, girly."

His knife was secure in the palm of his right hand and his meaty fist tilted Neo head up to face him. Carefully maneuvering the knife he carved her skin, cut her flesh, and released her metallic blood. Her tongue stung as she felt the cold metal slice her tongue and her blood ran down her throat, before the girl could move the bandit cut her tongue out of its rightful place, attached to her body. Seeing her warm body part in the dirt finally broke her out of her panic and she did what her family had always taught her to do, take control. Her face was no longer scared, her hands not shaking, and although she could taste sweet metal liquid she smiled calmly at the man. Using him as a launch she somersaulted over him and snatched a long rapier from the ground. The man made an attempt to grab her but she spun about him driving the sharp blade into his back. He fell to his knees, almost dead, but not quite. Wrenching the knife from his hand a disconcerting smile grew on his face. With nimble fingers she carved his face into a wild mesh of chaos, until there was no more face and only blood, striking and blinding blood. The air was thick with the smell and Neo's hands were sticky with the man's life fluid. Shallow breath came from his mouth and Neo turned the knife, slitting his throat, as he had done to her siblings.

In the next hour the girl went on a one woman killing spree, the bandits falling from her hands as quickly as rain on the sea. Neo was over the precipice, she had had the chance to be good, had the chance to be a huntress, to help people, to not be like her family, to be different. Now... she was different. Her clothes were soaked with blood and her hands gripped a knife that had been used to kill dozens of people. She was stained, and she would never be clean of it. Not the blood she had spilled.

Neo walked toward the nearest town, her feet dragging and her hair charred and black. A Grimm came barreling toward her and she turned to confront it, only to realize she had dropped the knife some miles back, her muscles too exhausted to hold anything. Opening her arms wide, she resigned herself to her death, after all... the world held nothing else, right?

A sharp gunshot rang out through the open air and the Grimm fell to the ground, dissolving into shadow and drifting away. Neo turned her head halfheartedly only partially glad she hadn't been killed. A short orange haired boy approached, a limp in his leg and a cane raised as if it were a gun. He approached the 15 year old, "Don't just sit there, that thing could have killed you."

Neo only looked at the boy, unable to procure words from her damaged mouth, and the boy came closer, "Was that you who killed all those bandits at the carnival. Great job by the way."

The blood covered teen looked away, confused by this dark boy. Even those in her family, those raised to be criminals, would have thought twice about a girl covered in blood who might have just massacred a massive group of full grown men. Let alone tell her, 'good job.' The boy continued speaking, I'll take that as a yes. I assume you need medical attention. How about we make a deal? Can you speak or are you just ignoring me?"

Neo opened her mouth, showing her partially healed tongue, her aura's work of course. The short boy gave a curt nod, "Well then, why don't I help you out, let you have a place to sleep etc., and in return... you work me. Of course, you'll only get 30% but you see, I'm new to Vale and don't know much about it. Do we have a deal?"

Biting her lip, Neopolitan thought about his proposition, then wrote in the dirt at his feet, 'WHAT WOULD I DO?' Roman craned his head to look and smiled, "Ah well, we would start out with simple cons, distractions so that I can pickpocket people, however, I'd like to try heisting soon. You seem skinny, can you fit through air ducts? Hmm, if she can't I'll have to..."

The boy had gotten distracted with his own thoughts and Neo shoved his shoulder to get him to notice her again. When he once again turned to face her she nodded and mouthed 'yes'.

-

Torchwick sat back, finished with his story, "... and that is how me and Neo met. Thinking about it though, that was a long time ago," he looked at Ruby and was surprised to see silent tears streaming down her face.

Quiet sobs escaped from her lips, "Why did you guys have such sad lives," she managed to blubber through her tears.

Roman smiled softly, something rare, and kneeled down next to Ruby, who sitting on the floor. His fingers were gentle as they wiped away her tears and he moved his face closer to her's. Ruby looked into his eyes and saw humor glinting his eyes, "Are you making fun of me?"

"No. It's just that you're the second person who's had that reaction when I told them our past," a short chuckle was his reaction as he thought about the other person.

"What? Who was the other person?" Ruby asked sincerely, hoping to get an answer from the criminal, to no avail.

He leaned down and bit her lip, chortling when her back went rigid and her face began to heat up, he pressed chaste kisses to her mouth. Ruby melted into his soft kisses and they stayed like that for some time, talking, kissing, and occasionally eating snacks from the pack. Until Neo opened the hatch letting light filter into the dungeon and motioning them that it was safe. She saw them off at the edge of town, patting Roman's head and telling him to take care of Red, she had become attached to the huntress for the short period that the girl had been in her care. She stared at their backs as they walked away from the city and smiled, that girl sure did bring trouble. Her smile fell away as she returned to the city, time to get to work.

-

Neo was covered in blood, she had just left her village and her knife still rested in her hand. A tall figure approached her, his face set. His green hair glinted in the light of the midday sun and his suit looked impossibly hot in a day like this. His eyes were confused as they lit upon the girl and he took a surprised step backward when he laid eyes on her blood covered form. "Neopolitan! What happened? Did you kill all those bandits?"

The pink haired girl clenched her teeth and nodded, glaring at the man in front of her. He looked at her in pity, "I thought that you wanted to be a huntress. That you wanted to make your sister proud."

A sharp inhale was the only response and Neo knelt in the dust scratching out barely legible words in her immense anger. Why were you not there to help? That is your job, she wrote not looking at Ozpin all the while.

He sighed, "I had to kill the Grimm, they are attracted to fear, and there was much fear on this day. There were also... other reasons."

Neo teeth clenched harder and she contained her anger, she smudged the words she had written and scrawled other words in their place, standing after she had finished. Her semblance went into effect and she changed her appearance, walking away from the Professor and toward the rest of her life. Ozpin stood staring down at the words, then he himself walked away to report to the headmaster that the girl he had gone to recruit was not to join their school, as she was dead. Those words stayed there, scratched into the mud, for days, until the downpour washed away all trace of their existence. Neo promised herself she would make a new life for herself with those words... and she did.

The next time you see this face, I will kill you

She had written. And she did... almost.


	25. Perpetual Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Ya'll GP here
> 
> Wow... the last real chapter... somehow I am feeling majorly nostalgic. I really cannot believe I've gotten this far and yes I know I say this a lot but I could not have made it without you and you and you. The Epilogue will be out as soon as possible, as well as the fact that I am going to be editing all the chapters, replacing bad words, spell and grammar checking, etc. just in case. I am going to also post a dedication at the beginning of the book and acknowledgements chapter after the Epilogue. If you want to you can check those out. Also... to the person who wanted a drawing of Roman's masquerade ball outfit: Sorry it has taken me so long. I did draw it soon after you asked me to but... it looked bad. So I trashed it.
> 
> Alrighty then... on to the story.

Ruby and Roman walked outside the city, their footsteps leaving only the barest hint of their existence in the forest floor. Moss covered the trees and vines hung from the foliage. The two stood out in the greenness of the forest, their voices rarely broke the quiet of the woods and the only sound was the distant rumble of a Grimm and the call of the birds nesting above their heads. Finally Ruby's voice broke the silence, "Do you think that we will ever find out what's been going on?"

Roman continued walking, not looking at the girl next to him, "What do you mean Red?"

"Do you remember the first night you came to Beacon?" she waited until he nodded to continue, "I told you that no one ever tells me anything. The past few months just seemed to cement that into my brain. I guess I'm always supposed to be stuck in the dark."

"Red," he began, "Most people don't know anything either. In fact, back when I worked for Cinderhella I was equally less informed as you are now. The people in power tend to overlook the fact that those under them have the power to learn things and to keep secrets."

"What are we supposed to do then? Accept our fate and never learn anything important! Always have our blindfolds on?" Ruby skidded to a stop and glared at Roman, throwing her hands up into the air and startling a few nearby creatures.

Roman stopped and stared back at Ruby, he shrugged, "Do what I do. Spy, steal, bribe, exchange information until the darkness at least seems a little bearable."

Ruby started moving again, her face set in concentration as she thought about his words, the orange-haired criminal followed after her, his cane spinning in his hand. Once again the only sound was the peaceful animal noises and the occasional monster screech in the distance. Thoughts ran through Ruby's mind and after staring at the shadows in the forest the vast array of greens and browns she decided.

"Okay."

She ran to catch up with Roman, latching onto his arm. He looked down at the girl hanging off his arm and raised an eyebrow, her voice high pitched and hopeful, "Together."

-

Weiss looked out the window at her mansion in Atlas, her long hair brushing against her arms as she raised Myrtenaster and swung in a wide arc. She clenched her teeth, determined to get stronger. Her father had kept her away from news, telling her that if she wanted to be the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company she couldn't have any contact with the rascals from Vale. That itself seemed odd to the girl, since she knew that a business owner had to know what was going on in the world to make the correct decisions. Her strikes became hurried and her face was uneasy. Her form was sloppy and she breathed hard from her nose as anger fueled her attacks. She couldn't get away. She couldn't leave. What was she to do?

-

A black-haired jumped from train car to train car, avoiding the men and women who patrolled the vehicle. She had no weapons in her hands and she reached the end of the train, about to jump from the top of the car into the forest. Her feet had barely left the ground when she felt a warm hand grip her arm and pull her down. Adam stood above Blake, a grim smirk under his mask, "You didn't think you could get away that easily did you? Not like last time. Didn't I tell you that if you tried to escape I'd finish what I started with that fire haired blonde?"

Blake cowered in fear and clenched her eyes shut, trying to shut out the reality of her situation. She followed Adam back into the interior of the train.

-

Yang's head hit the table and she kept it there, staring at the rest of the club in distress. Her left hand clutched a glass with a strong alcoholic drink over ice. Even the cute umbrella couldn't distract her from her other arm. It hung limply, considerably shorter than the other arm. She picked up her head for a second just to slam it into the table. How could she let this happen? Ruby was missing; Blake was missing; Weiss was stuck at her father's house, practically imprisoned; And Yang was helpless. What help could she be missing an imperative part of her body. Junior walked up behind her and rested a large hand on her shoulder. She shook it off and he didn't comment on her casual rejection, "So Blondie, what's wrong? You've been here drinking for two days straight and I don't think I've seen you sleep at all."

She didn't answer him.

"Is this about your arm? Or is it your sister, 'cause I have a feeling I might know where she is."

Yang's head shot up so quickly she might have gotten whiplash, "Where?!" her left hand grabbed his collar and pulled his face closer to her's.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has come to my attention that some people are wondering why I am ending this fic (that's you Timmy) and I feel that I should address that topic. The first reason I feel is the most obvious, I have been planning this ending for at least 4 months, and I knew that I was going to end it soon and that I would end it in this way, although I didn't necessarily know all the details. My second reason is that I have never written a story this long, in fact most of my stories begin losing momentum by about the third chapter, I have ADD and often hop from one thing to another and never finish anything. In fact I am beyond surprised that I even wrote a proper ending for this. And yes, I know the ending is a bit abrupt, I think so too, however... I feel that it is following the same idea I have been bringing out throughout the story, that of unknowing. Both of the characters and of the readers. Only I know what is truly happening and I like to keep my readers guessing. The third reason I ended it here is that I feel it is a good stopping place, not only is it a cliffhanger, one of my favorite things, there are a lot of aspects of the story that are not set in stone, and while I think of my own 'ending' per se, so can you. As this is so I like to give my readers the option of coming up with what they feel would happen in the future (some of my favorite books have ending such as this like: A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Scythe. Both of which I would recommend). The last reason is kind of sad but a reason that has been troubling me for some time, that is, I lost my passion in the Rosewick fandom. It's not that I don't ship them anymore, I do, but I'm the type of person who, when they find a ship, reads fics until they are sick of the ship and then moves on. However, since there were barely any fics when I got into this I had lots of passion to write my own, now though, I have reached the point where the fanfictions for this fandom are abundant and I am satisfied with amount of them on all the sites I use to publish this story. Please forgive me for ending this and I hope you enjoyed it to the end, just as I did. Look forward to the Epilogue.
> 
> Gravity_Piglet out


	26. Epilogue_ Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends,
> 
> Sorry about the delay on this but I had a serious case of writer's block for some time. I am actually considering writing a sequel to this although originally it didn't even cross my mind. First though I have to edit all the chapter for this, add an acknowledgements and a dedication. You may have noticed I already edited the first two chapters and I will probably slowly make progress in editing the rest. Please enjoy this last chapter of In The Dark. 
> 
> Gravity_Piglet

Epilogue_ Answers

Hazel threw Ozpin before his queen, a bored, disinterested look passed over his face and the white haired woman raised her eyebrows, a smooth smile sliding into place. Her thin white finger glowed in the incandescent light and the tinkling of her hair ornaments seemed unearthly and impossibly loud. She glided closer to the headmaster, her footsteps silent against the floor and her long robe shifting only slightly as she moved in a way that made it seem as if she floated across the room. She ran her cold finger along Ozpin's chin, one spine chilling word escaping from her lips, a word that none would attempt to disobey.

"Stand."

The man struggled to his feet, bruises scattered across his face and blood staining his clothes. Salem's smooth voice broke the silence, "I see that you finally quit projecting your consciousness. You might notice that your aura is drained. I allowed Tyrian to have a bit of fun torturing you."

Ozpin clenched his teeth, "You won't get away with this darkness. The simple soul always prevails."

The almost imperceptible clench of her jaw was only noticeable to Ozpin and she waved her hand to tell the large and gruff man to leave the room. Hazel nodded respectfully and his feet thudded against the floor as he exited. Salem's voice was quiet but powerful, and Ozpin could feel the anger that emanated off her body in waves, "Let me tell you something, brother," her eyes narrowed as she addressed Ozpin.

"There are things that you can't learn from books, and things you can't teach to your precious huntsmen. There was a time when our clan ruled, people believed that our use of aura was 'magic.' When they trusted us, and chaos ensued. The simple souls of that world could not beat us. So what makes you think that this little girl can?"

"Seasoned huntsmen and huntresses have gone up against us and not even touched our defenses. You are grasping at straws brother and now I have all the power."

Ozpin shook his head sadly, "You cannot see can you? The beauty of peace, the wonder of friendship and the benefit of working together. I left because I did see. I left because I knew that you were blind with anger and hate and resentment and darkness. You and mother."

Salem slapped Ozpin across the face, his face red where her powerful blow had hit, "Do not speak her name! She would have died all over again if she saw the course you have taken."

She turned to the door flicking a hand as Watts entered, telling the tall man to carry the headmaster back to the cramped cell. Leaving the large hall after the two had retreated she stepped into the miasma of the wastes. At the top of the steps she gazed over the desolate land, Grimm crawling in hordes over the land. The shattered moon sparkled in the sky and her skin was illuminated by the light. A small chortle escaped her lips and Tyrian approached from behind her. She continued staring out as she spoke to the faunas, "Make sure that Ozpin has a rough time in the dungeons, we don't want him to regain his strength now do we."

Tyrian giggled and nodded, "Of course, my lady."

After he left a small animal descended from the sky and landed on Salem's outstretched hand. "Neo reacted just as I thought she would. Roman will stay with Ruby yes? Follow them and make sure he leads her off track. Oh and you know what will happen to Summer if you disobey? Keep an eye on them for me Qrow."

The bird took off into the bright night his wings blending into the sky.


End file.
